Supply of bulk and wheeled bins for housing developments Policy

1. Provision of wheeled bins

Horsham District Council (‘the Council’s’) policy relating to provision of wheeled bins has been in place since 2009. It identifies who is responsible for the provision and maintenance of wheeled bins at any Household in the district. At present the Council has three categories of collection for Household Waste.

• (i) Mixed Dry Recycling
• (ii) Residual waste
• (iii) Garden Waste

As a Waste Collection Authority (‘WCA’) it is the responsibility of the Council to arrange for the collection of household waste. This duty is set out in section 45 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (‘EPA’) and for the provision of wheeled bin reference is made to section 46.  For the purposes of this document, where appropriate, the term ‘occupier’ used in the legislation is substituted by ‘householder’. The term ‘developer’ relates to any person or business who is responsible for the provision of bins for a housing development of more than five new properties or dwellings.

The following points are set out in section 46 of the EPA 1990 with regard to the provision of wheeled bins.

• (i) The use and provision of specified receptacles
• (ii) The size, construction and maintenance of receptacles
• (iii)  Where receptacles must be placed for collection (including provision for requiring them to be placed on the highway)
• (iv)  What may and may not be put into the receptacles

The household waste collection service does not put an obligation on the Council to provide the receptacles, only the emptying of them. At the time of introduction for the previous schemes, the Council provided these free of charge to each household with ownership and full responsibility passing to the householder. The Council has otherwise required householders or developers to provide the wheeled bins although the Council does repair or replace any wheeled bin that its collection vehicles have damaged in certain circumstances by reporting damaged bins directly to the Council.

It is common practice for a developer of a housing development to supply wheeled bins for single occupancy properties (houses) and bulk bins for multi occupancy properties (flats). Bins supplied within the Horsham district must meet the criteria specified in sections 2 and 3 of this document.

2. Single Occupancy Properties (Houses)

The Council has agreed the following in terms of standard for each type of material and these can be purchased from the Council. These sizes are per dwelling:

• (i) 140 litres Green Top Wheeled Bin for residual waste
• (ii) 240 litres Blue Top Wheeled Bin for mixed dry recycling
• (iii) 240 litres Brown Top Wheeled Bin for garden waste (paid-for subscription service)

3. Multi Occupancy Properties (Flats)

The Council has agreed the following in terms of standard for each type of material. These sizes are per dwelling:

• (i) 180 litres for residual waste
• (ii) 240 litres for mixed dry recycling

The specifications above relate to each dwelling in a multi occupancy property and are used as a general guide to assess the size and number of bulk bins required. The sizes and specifications of bulk bins that the Council are able to empty are below and these can be purchased from the Council:

• (i) 1100 litre Green Top Bulk Bin for residual waste
• (ii) 660 Green Top Bulk Bin for residual waste
• (iii) 360 Green Top Wheeled Bin for residual waste
• (iv) 1100 litre Blue Top Bulk Bin for mixed dry recycling
• (v) 660 litre Blue Top Bulk Bin for mixed dry recycling
• (vi) 360 litre Blue Top Wheeled Bin for mixed dry recycling
• (vii) 1100 litre bulk bin with transparent sides and blue letterbox lid for mixed dry recycling contamination control
• (viii) 660 litre bulk bin with transparent sides and blue letterbox lid for mixed dry recycling contamination control

4. Bin standards

Developers are welcome to purchase bins through an alternative (third party) supplier, however, any bins purchased must meet the manufacturing standard EN840.

It is recommended that wheeled bins should also be awarded with the “GGAWB” sign of Quality association for containers for waste and recycling materials (RAL). A list of awarded suppliers can be found on the GGAWB website.

If the developer chooses to buy a third party wheeled bin that does not meet the manufacturing standard EN840 or does not meet the criteria outlined in sections 2 and 3 of this document, or is in anyway incompatible with the Council’s collections vehicle, then, the Council reserve the right not to collect any waste contained in wheeled bins that do not meet this standard.

5. Procedure for bin allocation and supply

For housing developments comprising of five or more dwellings, particularly where those developments contain multi occupancy properties, the Council’s procedure for bin allocation and supply applies.

The Recycling & Waste Team will receive notification of a development once the planning notification has been issued. At this stage a letter containing a form will be supplied to the developer requesting information pertaining to the site details and the primary contact for each stage of the bin allocation and supply procedure. Upon completion and return of the form, a site visit will be arranged with an officer from the Council to assess the bin requirements for the site. During this visit, the officer on site will complete a bin order form in agreement with the developer.

As per section 46 of the EPA 1990, the Council can specify the size of the receptacles and where receptacles are placed for collection. Because of this requirement, it is essential that the Council meet with the developer on site to specify what bins are required and where they will need to be placed. This requirement remains the same should the supplier purchase bins through the Council or through an alternative (third party) supplier.

Following completion of the site visit, if it is agreed to purchase bins through the Council, an invoice to the developer will be raised for the cost of the bins to be supplied and delivered on an agreed date. Should the development require staggered deliveries, this can also be arranged. The delivery date and subsequent delivery of the bins will only be arranged upon full payment of the invoice.

Should a developer purchase bins through an alternative (third party) supplier, the bins supplied must be the size and specification outlined during the site visit with the council officer. If any bins are installed at the site which are not within the agreed specification, the Council reserve the right not to collect any waste contained within wheeled bins that do not meet this standard.

6. Refuse Collection Vehicle Access

The Council have specific access requirements for the vehicles used to collect bins. The information pertaining to access will be provided as guidance at the planning stage. The Refuse and Recycling Standards Advice Note is also available upon request.

7. Procedure for starting collections of waste from newly occupied dwellings

The Council are informed that new dwellings are becoming occupied via the National Address Gazetteer, however it is requested that the developers provide the Council with a schedule of dates of residents moving into new properties to assist with resource planning.

Once the Council has received information of new dwellings becoming occupied, collection rounds and days will be allocated to the new addresses and collections will start as per the collections schedule, with immediate effect.

As per Section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Council can specify where receptacles are placed for collection. Whilst every effort will be made to collect bins from directly outside single occupancy dwellings on the kerbside, in some circumstances it may be necessary to implement a collection point which requires the bin to be moved to a specific location for collection day. In these circumstances, residents will be contacted to advise of their collection point.

Once rounds and days are allocated, residents of newly occupied dwellings will be able to download their personalised collections calendar from our Check your bin collection day page.