Asbestos: Proposal to receive small quantities of household non-licensed asbestos free of charge

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A decision made on 21 July 2020

Decision Reference: MD-T-2020-0031
Decision Summary Title:	Proposal to allow for small quantities of household non-licensed asbestos to be received free of charge		Date of Decision Summary:	29 June 2020
Decision Summary Author:	Business Development & Change Manager		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Proposal to allow for small quantities of household non-licensed asbestos to be received free of charge		Date of Written Report:	29 June 2020
Written Report Author:	Business Development & Change Manager		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Providing the facility to receive from householders small quantities (up to 40kg) of non-licensed asbestos free of charge.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the provision of a category to receive up to 40kg of non-licensed asbestos by householders on asbestos receiving days free of charge.
Reason(s) for Decision: The negligible sum of money this charge brings into the budget is offset by additional manpower costs to enforce the charge. This change will provide a better customer experience with householders being able to go direct to the site without the need for staff to escort them through an industrial site designed for large lorries, etc.
Resource Implications: There is a positive financial impact to this decision as it frees up manpower that previously would be needed to escort these customers through the industrial site.
Action required: Officers to add the free of charge category to the fees and charges list, update web pages and inform customers on asbestos days.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Infrastructure
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Asbestos: Proposal to receive small quantities of household non-licensed asbestos free of charge

GROWTH, HOUSING AND ENVIRONMENT

PROPOSAL TO ALLOW FOR SMALL QUANTITIES OF HOUSEHOLD NON-

LICENSED ASBESTOS TO BE RECEIVED FREE OF CHARGE

Purpose of the Report

To remove the cost to household customers bringing small quantities of non-licensed asbestos for disposal.

Background

Householders are charged to dispose of their asbestos which is categorised into licensed (the more hazardous type) and non-licensed at £730.61 and £20.45 per tonne respectively.

In the past four years there hasn’t been a single occasion when a householder has brought in licensed asbestos and so they have all been charged at the lower rate.

Members of the public who have up to 40kg of asbestos to dispose of do not need to pre book and can turn up on asbestos receiving days and will be charged at £20.45 per tonne which will be up to a maximum of 82p.

Householders with larger quantities of asbestos need to book in advance with an indication of the amount of asbestos they are bringing and will be allocated a time slot to attend. These customers would not be affected by this change.

Discussion

GHE has a new contract for the asbestos disposal reception site that started on 1st June 2020 and is taking the opportunity to change the route that householders travel to the site. The new route will mean that householders with small quantities of non-licensed asbestos will no longer need to go over the weighbridge to the site via industrial dirt roads escorted by a member of staff. There is no facility to collect payment at the Asbestos reception site, as it is a cashless site, and the cost of installing the infrastructure far outweighs the income that would be generated.

The weighbridge facility is designed to cater for large vehicles with many tonnes of waste on board. It is not designed to deal with small household vehicles with an in and out weight difference of less than 40kg and so several of the vehicles actually register no weight change as the amount is so small and these customers will receive no charge at all on these occasions.

The proposed change would mean that householders bringing smaller quantities of asbestos are no longer charged up to 82p for their waste and this is taken and disposed of free of charge.

Householders taking larger pre-booked quantities of asbestos will still go over the weighbridge and be charged according to the weight of the asbestos they have brought in.

The income these customers have generated over the past three years is no more than £4 in total for each year which is considerably less than it costs to process the transaction and escort the householder to the site.

Conclusion

Householders with smaller quantities will be able to go direct to the asbestos reception site without going over the weighbridge and will have their asbestos weighed on site when they arrive.

Householders bringing larger quantities in trailers etc. will still be required to go over the weighbridge and be escorted to the correct location.

There is currently no facility to allow for small quantities of asbestos to be received free of charge and so this change needs to be approved in order for it to be implemented.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Minister approves the decision for householders to be permitted to bring in non-licensed asbestos up to 40kg, on asbestos receiving days, free of charge.

Reason(s) for Decision

This will provide a better customer service, makes sense both financially and operationally and there is positive financial impact to this decision.

Resource Implications

There is a saving in manpower having to direct customers through the industrial site and a negligible loss of under £5 per annum.

Action Required

Officers to add the free of charge category to the fees and charges list, update web pages and inform customers on asbestos days.

Written by:	Business Development & Change Manager

Approved by:	Head of Solid Waste