Oxfordshire residents can now dispose of limited quantities of DIY waste for free at the county's household waste recycling centers (HWRCs) using an online booking system.
The booking system, which was launched today by Oxfordshire County Council, means homeowners wishing to use their free DIY waste allocation will need to book in advance via the website.
The move follows a change in government legislation which now allows small amounts of DIY household waste to be disposed of free of charge. The legislation went into effect last week.
Councilor Pete Sudbury, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment at Oxfordshire County Council, said: โWe hope that people will quickly get used to this new way of doing things and will find it convenient to dispose of the DIY waste allocated to them for free. By ensuring people book in advance, we can ensure the system is not abused and costs to our council ratepayers are minimised.
"The change in legislation is aimed at small amounts of DIY waste produced by a homeowner as part of their home improvements."
Online bookings for free DIY waste are for a single visit. Oxfordshire residents will need to register their address, vehicle registration number, email address and the date they wish to visit, along with the site they wish to use.
They will then receive an immediate email confirmation of their booking, which they will need to show to the site team upon arrival. It is important that residents comply with the reserved date, otherwise they may be charged and only authorized reservations will be accepted.
Free allowances are limited to five free standard DIY items or one sheet of plaster, once every seven days. When submitting more than the allotted free allowance, the cheapest items will be considered free.
Any DIY waste above this level or deposited more frequently than every seven days will remain fully chargeable at the advertised rates. Full details and examples of charging scenarios are available in the Oxfordshire County Council website and will be available on the site.
Examples of DIY waste include bathtubs, sinks, toilets, cisterns and a 20 liter bag of rubble or tiles. Five of these items would constitute a household's seven-day free allowance.
The free DIY waste booking system will only allow residents to make one visit every seven days. For example, if a free reservation is made for a Tuesday, the next free assignment will not be allowed until the following Tuesday.
However, all residents are welcome to visit more frequently than every seven days, but any DIY waste brought in on those visits will be charged in full at the advertised rates.
The booking system and free DIY allowance is for Oxfordshire residents only. Non-Oxfordshire residents can still use the county's DIY waste sites without booking, but will be charged in full at the advertised rates.
To give people time to adapt to these changes, site teams will operate flexibly for the first month. Residents, on their first visit with DIY waste during the month of January, will be able to deposit their free DIY waste quota without a reservation, although they may be asked to make a reservation on site, via smartphone, or reminded that make one for anyone next. visit.
The full application of the reservation system will go into operation from February 1, 2024.
Reservations are only required for the free DIY waste allocation. Any other chargeable DIY waste or any other type of household waste does not require a reservation, apart from the existing reservation system for asbestos.
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