Household waste recycling centres

Please ensure you are familiar with the terms and conditions for the HWRC sites.

1. The household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) are provided to allow residents of the borough to deliver their own domestic waste from their own homes within the borough.
2. Proof of residency will be required to use the sites from 1st February 2019, by means of either a current year Council Tax statement, driving licence, passport, bank/credit card statement (dated within 3 months) or mortgage statement (less than 12 months old).
3. Users of the site are expected to separate out items before, or at the site, making maximum use of the separate material-type containers at the site to maximise recycling.
4. Staff will provide assistance upon request, including moving large or heavy items.
5. Residents using the centres do so at their own risk and are expected to follow the pedestrian walkways and the instructions provided by the centre staff.
6. Pedestrian access is permitted to residents living within 0.5km of the sites only.
7. Parking vehicles outside the centres and walking waste in to the centres is not permitted.
8. Users are not permitted to access the centres whilst skip exchanges are underway, due to health and safety reasons.
9. Access is not permitted to the centres outside of the published opening hours.
10. Trade/business/commercial waste is not permitted to be disposed of at the HWRCs. This is waste generated from premises used wholly or mainly for the purpose of a trade or business. The Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 lists types of waste that should be treated as commercial waste.
11. Trade/business/commercial waste includes letting of houses/flats, waste arising from the renovation of a property purchased solely for re-sale, retail/shop waste, any work for which payment is made, and transporting any waste for money. Waste generated within a residential home or garden, and is a result of a business activity, is defined as commercial waste, therefore subject to regulation. Examples of this include garden waste generated by a landscape gardener or building waste as a result of removing a fitted kitchen.
12. Incidents of verbal and/or physical abuse towards staff will be reported to the police and may lead the Council to exclude offenders from using the centre(s).
13. The Council reserves the right to take enforcement action to deal with any cases of misuse of the centres.
14. The Council reserves the right to amend, withdraw or suspend these terms of conditions in whole or in part at any time.

Persons depositing commercial or trade waste may be prosecuted under the provision of the Environment Protection Act 1990, S34. The maximum penalty is a fine of £50,000.

Permits are required by Blackburn with Darwen residents where:

• a household only has access to a van, minibus or a pickup (referred to as a 'van' in this paragraph)
• a household wishes to use a large trailer at the centres
• a works van is allocated to the applicant for personal use outside work
• a household wishes to dispose of construction/DIY type waste

1. Permits are issued to residents of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council only, for their sole use and are not transferrable to someone else.
2. Permit holders will still be required to show proof of residency when visiting the HWRCs.
3. The permit holder must be the owner or driver of the vehicle, being used to dispose of the waste.
4. One permit will be permitted per address or household. A household may hold a maximum of 2 permits at any one time, one for a van/pickup/trailer and one for disposal of construction/DIY type waste.
5. A replacement permit for those lost or stolen, must be applied for. Lost permits cannot be replaced until the expiry date of the permit.
6. If a permit holder wishes to obtain a permit for a new vehicle, the permit for the existing vehicle must be returned to Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council for cancellation, before a new permit can be issued.

Commercial type vehicle/trailer permit scheme

Permits are issued on the following basis:-

• permits will only be issued to vehicles under 3000kg gross vehicle weight (GVW), with tax, MOT (where applicable), and valid insurance.
• the permit will be issued for up to 12 visits, and will be valid for 12 months from the date of issue. A (valid) permit must be presented immediately upon arrival at the centre, for verification and recording use of a permit. Failure to do so, will mean the staff cannot allow access to the site to the permit holder.
• when transporting construction/DIY waste, in a van/pickup/trailer, both permits are required and both must be presented at the centre.

Construction/DIY waste permit scheme

Permits are issues on the following basis:-

• the permit allows 10 bags or equivalent, of material at the centres. A (valid) permit must be presented immediately upon arrival at the centre, for verification and recording use of a permit. Failure to do so, will mean the staff cannot allow access to the site to the permit holder.
• when using a commercial type vehicle/trailer to transport construction/DIY waste, both permits are required and both must be presented at the centre.

The Council reserves the right to deny future access to the HWRCs to any person(s) who misuse the permit system including the application process. This may result in a permit being withdrawn and no further permits issued to the resident or address in question.

The centre staff reserve the right to deny a permit holder access to the sites.