A WESTBURY charity has spoken out against Wiltshire Council’s ‘harsh’ new plan to charge charities to use recycling centres.
Imperial Charity manager, Bob Summerfield, has said the plan to charge non-profit organisations to recycle is misdirected and could harm small charities.
Wiltshire Council confirmed last week that from September it would limit voluntary sector groups to one visit to a household recycling centre (HRC) per month, and that they’d have to pay.
Manager of Imperial Charity, Bob Summerfield told White Horse News, “I think it’s a harsh move. Our shops help relieve pressure on recycling centres by the very nature of what we do. We take delivery of 30, 40 or more pieces of furniture or household items a week – if they’re not coming to us they’re going to the tip.”
Imperial Charity runs two second-hand furniture shops on Warminster Road and a general charity shop on the High Street. The profits are used to fund entertainment and education for people with special needs and the elderly.
“On top of that,” he continued, “we’re a non-profit organisation and use all the money we make to help local people. We can’t pay for the recycling out of any other budget, so the money will be taken out of what we could spend helping people here in Westbury and across Wiltshire.”
A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said, “We only have a duty to provide household recycling centres for its residents to dispose of their waste. During 2015-16 we reduced the opening hours at all 11 of the household recycling centres in order to make savings. As a consequence some sites have experienced long queues during their busiest times.
“Recognising this issue, we have begun looking at all users of these sites in order to improve access for residents. As a consequence, and to make further savings, from September this year we intend to limit access for the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (including charities) to the sites. They will still be able to access the household recycling centres, but the number of visits will be limited to 12 per organisation per year and a small charge will apply to cover the cost of managing the waste they deliver.”
Bob Summerfield says Imperial Charity tries to minimise visits to the centres, but can need to visit them as often as once a week. He said the charity hadn’t been told of the proposal to limit the visits to monthly, adding that it was counter-intuitive.
“Charities like ours probably reduce the queueing problem,” he said. “If we go once a week with a vanload, surely that’s better than everyone going individually with one item.
“I know the council needs to make money, but I think this is aimed in totally the wrong direction.”
