CHARITIES in Wiltshire will no longer be able to dispose of waste for free, according to new rules passed by Wiltshire Council that have angered many.

Under previous rules charities, housing associations and schools received passes for free and unlimited access to the council’s household recycling centres.

The council have said that the review in policy is required “in order to achieve challenging savings targets in the face of reducing central government grants and increasing demands on key council services”.

The have highlighted that they have no statutory duty to continue to provide what they describe as “benefits in kind” to charities in the form of free disposal at its sites.

The council estimates that this revised approach save up to £40,000 of direct waste handling and disposal costs in 2016/17.

Dorothy House has a shop in Malmesbury. Its retail director James McDonald said he opposes the rule changes which he described as “really disappointing”.

“Our charity shops [have] a positive impact on the rates of reuse and recycling and helps to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, so in effect reducing cost for the council, and giving a net social benefit to the community, environment and the council finances,”  he said.

“In the Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 it makes it clear that waste produced from a charity shops selling donated goods that have originated from domestic property, should be counted as household waste and not commercial waste.

“Changes asking charities to pay for recycling will simply reduce the amount of money we have to care for patients in Wiltshire, and reduce the health and social impact benefits we can give to the people of Wiltshire, and in the long term increase costs to the council.”

Charities will be able to continue to dispose of recyclables at the recycling centres after applying and paying for a chargeable access permit.

The charge is to be set at £44 for six visits to the recycling centres each year, and £70 for up to 12 visits per year, with charges subject to annual rises in line with the council’s other fees and charges.

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 eleven of its 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.”