Recycling Centre policies

Abusive and aggressive behaviour will not be tolerated at any West Sussex Recycling Centre.

Residents acting aggressively or in an abusive manner to centre staff and/or other residents at the Recycling Centre will be asked to leave, and such behaviour may result in legal action.

Abusive and aggressive behaviour can be described as any behaviour that causes damaging or hurtful effects, physically or emotionally, on other people. This definition is not exhaustive but would include:

• verbal abuse (including name calling)
• bullying, shouting or swearing
• threats of any kind
• assault (whether resulting in injury or not)
• assault using a weapon or other instrument
• threat of harm to property or family
• discriminatory abuse (such as racial or sexual)

Under the Health and Safety Act at Work (1974) Biffa has a legal duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety, and welfare of its employees.

Any residents demonstrating abusive or aggressive behaviour will be asked to leave the centre and a ban may be issued. Further legal action may also occur if required.

Residents are provided with information explaining terms and conditions relating to use of West Sussex Recycling Centres.

Failure to comply with these terms and conditions may result in a ban from some, or all Recycling Centres. Information of any such ban will be provided in writing by West Sussex County Council to a resident when issued.

Resident use of the West Sussex Recycling Centre network is recorded and monitored via the Biffa Disclaimer Monitoring Database (DMD), West Sussex County Council Book to Recycle Database and the Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system.

Residents who are banned for the duration of their ban.

All our Recycling Centres accept up to 200kg of building, construction, and demolition materials.

This is the equivalent of:

• a small car boot load
• a small domestic trailer load
• 8 x 25kg rubble type bags (number of bags is a guide and based on Health and Safety Executive guidelines)

The following exceptions apply:

• Midhurst site can only accept wood and cannot accept soil and hardcore or plasterboard
• Bognor Regis site cannot accept plasterboard
• East Grinstead site cannot accept plasterboard
• Littlehampton site cannot accept plasterboard

The Controlled Waste Regulations (1992) classifies construction and demolition waste as being ‘Industrial Waste’. West Sussex County Council has no statutory duty to provide recycling facilities for this type of waste.

Therefore, West Sussex County Council are not required to offer any recycling facilities for construction and demolition waste but have decided to offer a limited service that is designed to accept small quantities.

If householders have larger quantities of construction and demolition waste as a result of home DIY projects, it is recommended that alternative arrangements are made, for example, the hire of a skip or Hippo Bag.

All recycling and waste must be delivered to the Recycling Centre by the person who produced the waste. If this is not possible, the person who produced the material must accompany the person transporting the recycling or waste on their behalf.

Recycling Centres are permitted to accept household waste from householders only.

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 states rules for handling all types of waste. Attached to this Act is a duty of care. The duty of care means that the person who produced the waste has a duty to ensure that their waste is handled safely and within the law.

As a household producing waste, residents have a duty to ensure that recycling and waste is transported safely to a centre that is permitted to accept household waste.

Residents waste is only classified as household waste if the householder who produced the waste, deliver it to a centre permitted to accept that type of waste.

All Recycling Centres are permitted to accept household waste only.

If the material is being transported and disposed of on behalf of the waste producer who is not accompanying the load, then the material is classified as commercial or trade waste and must be disposed of accordingly.

The Recycling Centres are designed and licensed to accept only household waste.

It is against the law to deposit commercial waste, or any waste produced during the course of a business, at a Recycling Centre.

All Recycling Centres must operate within a strict legal framework to ensure the protection of people and the surrounding environment. This framework is regulated by the Environment Agency.

All centres must have an Environmental Permit to operate, which is obtained from the Environment Agency. The Environmental Permit will state what waste can be accepted at the Recycling Centre and what type of user can bring the waste to the centre. West Sussex Recycling Centres have permits that allow householders to deposit household waste only.

In addition, the Recycling Centre planning permission states that the Recycling Centres may only allow householders to bring in household waste. Commercial or trade residents are not allowed to use the Recycling Centres.

The operation and costs of the waste handling and disposal service at Recycling Centres are funded by the taxpayer. It is neither right nor fair that the taxpayers of West Sussex should be expected to finance the handling and disposal of commercial waste.

If you are a business producing waste, you will need to take your waste to a site that is licensed to accept commercial waste.

Despite there being no statutory requirement for the county council to dispose of commercial waste, a service has been established at 3 transfer stations within the county:

• Burgess Hill – Fairbridge Way, Burgess Hill, RH15 8AR
• Chichester – Coach Road, Westhampnett, PO18 0NS (entrance off Stane Street)
• Crawley (recyclables only) – Metcalf Way, Crawley, RH11 7XN.

Vehicles used by residents to bring their household waste and recycling to a Recycling Centre must not exceed 3.5 tonnes and must comply with the vehicle permit scheme. This is because the Recycling Centres are designed to accommodate typical household vehicles.

Vehicles heavier than the maximum weight (3.5 tonnes) can disrupt the safe working environment of the Recycling Centre for a number of reasons:

1. As heavy vehicles are typically longer than the average household vehicle, they may not be able to fit and park at the Recycling Centre safely, and manoeuvrability is restricted.
2. Heavy vehicles are typically taller than the average household vehicle, which can restrict/block lines of vision and affect other residents.
3. Drivers of these heavier/taller vehicles may not clearly see other residents or centre staff.
4. Heavy/tall vehicles have the capacity to carry more waste and recycling, so unloading takes longer and creates queues, causing disruption to other residents.
5. Heavy/tall vehicles can reduce lines of vision in the centre, meaning centre staff would be unable to see what is happening across the centre.

Vehicles used by residents to bring their household waste and recycling to a Recycling Centre must not exceed 2.2 metres (7 ft 2 inches) in height. This restriction is in place because the Recycling Centres are designed to accommodate typical household vehicles.

Vehicles taller than the maximum height or larger in size can disrupt the safe working environment of the Recycling Centre for a number of reasons:

1. Larger vehicles can restrict/block lines of vision and affect other residents.
2. Drivers of larger vehicles may not be able to clearly see other residents and centre staff.
3. Parking bays on centre are designed for typical household vehicles. Larger vehicles are usually longer and therefore would disrupt the traffic flow around the centre if trying to use a parking bay.
4. Larger vehicles have the ability to carry more waste and recycling; therefore, unloading would take longer and create. queues, causing a disruption to other residents.
5. Large vehicles can reduce the lines of vision at the centre, meaning centre staff would be unable to see what is happening across the centre.

Vehicles entering the Recycling Centre must be able to safely fit under the clearly marked height barriers in place. Roof racks, roof boxes, bicycles, and other objects on the roof of vehicles do not easily fit under the height barriers and damage to these objects may occur.

Objects should be removed prior to your visit to ensure your vehicle will safely fit under the height barrier. Centres do not have equipment to help you remove these objects.

Any damage caused to height barriers by an over-height vehicle will be recharged to the resident.

Residents using a trailer to transport their waste and recycling to a Recycling Centre must comply with the vehicle restrictions as laid out on our page. This states that all trailers must be single axle trailers only.

The following centres do not permit any trailers:

• Bognor Regis
• Horsham
• Littlehampton

This rule has been set to safeguard residents using the Recycling Centre and our staff. Multi-axle trailers or those that have been modified can disrupt the safe working environment for several reasons:

1. Trailers can be difficult to manoeuvre and pose a safety risk to other residents and centre staff.
2. Larger trailers can block or restrict traffic flow at centres as parking bays are designed to accommodate a typical car length (and trailer).
3. This congestion can lead to queues and disrupt other residents.
4. Larger trailers have the capacity to carry more waste and recycling, resulting in longer unloading times and further disruption to other residents.

If any vehicle (with or without a trailer) is deemed unsafe, they will not be allowed to use any Recycling Centre.

For site health and safety reasons the following vehicles are not permitted at any of the West Sussex Recycling Centres:

• Luton type vans
• horseboxes
• twin axle trailers (four wheels)
• tipper trucks/flatbeds/drop-sides
• vehicles with a gross weight of more than 3.5 tonnes