ID checks touted to stop non-residents using tips

Elgan Hearn Local Democracy Reporter

A senior councillor has urged waste and recycling chiefs to explore bringing in controls that could stop non county borough residents visiting its tips for recycling purposes.

At a meeting of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s Economic Development and Environment Management scrutiny committee on Tuesday, October 21, councillors received an annual report on the authority’s Waste and Recycling performance for 2024/2025.

While the recycling rate went up from 66.18 per cent for 2023/2024 to 68.89 per cent in 2024/2025, it still fell short of the 70 per cent recycling rate and has potentially incurred a fine from the Welsh Government of £75,200.

Opposition Independent group leader Cllr Wayne Hodgins has noticed that neighbouring local authorities have brought in use restrictions to their tips which is thought to help their overall recycling figures.

Identification

Cllr Hodgins (Brynmawr) said: “A couple of neighbouring authorities have introduced the need to produce identification to show you live in that authority area to deposit waste at the HWRC (Household Waste and Recycling Centres).”

He said that his sister who lives in the Monmouth area has to do this.

Cllr Hodgins continued: “We had a lot of residual (black bin waste) from people who don’t live in our borough, and this causes us the problem.”

“Have we got an initiative for that?”

Neighbourhood Services Team Manager Lisa Jones said: “We’ve always had an informal approach to this.

“We’ve always said we can ask you for identification particularly if we think it’s for commercial waste.

“Coss border contamination between HWRCs is something we have always kind of lived with.”

She understood that some Blaenau Gwent residents could “pop in” to other authorities tips due to convenience.

Cracking down

Ms Jones continued: “We all became a lot stricter during Covid-19, more aware of the boundaries and tried to restrict people from going across boundaries.

“I know Powys (council) introduced it because they had one on the border and they were getting a lot of people coming over from England, so they cracked down.

“We do get some Caerphilly residents coming to New Vale and there was a correlation when one of their sites in the north of the (Caerphilly) borough as closed they came to us.

“I can certainly take it up and see if it’s something we need to crack down on at the sites.”

Cllr Hodgins added: “We all want to pull in the right direction and achieve what we need to.

“We don’t as members (councillors) want to the residents to be picking up the implications of fines via Council Tax if it must be paid.”

The committee approved the report.