Hampshire
County Council (HCC) maintains 26 household waste recycling centres (HWRC)
providing recycling and disposal facilities for the 1.65 million residents. In
the late 1990s they set up a pilot scheme for accepting household chemical waste
at the Winchester HWRC where Hampshire residents could deposit pesticides and
other chemical waste in a locked bunded container. After successfully operating
this pilot for several years HCC recently installed similar chemical safes at an
additional eight HWRCs. These facilities were opened on 1 April 2003.The provision of facilities for safe disposal of waste pesticides is not so unusual in itself as other local authorities have similar facilities. What is more unusual is that Hampshire County Council have actually decided to tell their residents the facilities exist. By putting out press releases announcing last days for sale, use and storage or the recently withdrawn garden pesticides (due to EU directive 91/414/EEC) they have received good coverage of the new facilities in local media. In addition, they have produced a clear leaflet describing the facilities which is available in council buildings (libraries and other outlets), on their website, and at local garden centres and DIY stores_(http://www.integra.org.uk/about/hazardleaflet.pdf).
Many local authorities lacking chemical disposal facilities express concern about potential costs of installing such facilities. However, costs incurred to operate the system in Hampshire indicate that it should not be out of reach for most councils. In Hampshire initial costs included the price of bunded lockable containers, and the expense incurred in obtaining Environment Agency consent. These totalled around £5,000 per site. The Council estimate they may collect up to five tonnes of waste per year. They pay around £1,500 per tonne for disposal of hazardous waste (compared to £50 per tonne for non-hazardous waste), so total annual running costs may reach £7,500 for the facilities at all nine HWRCs. The Council have incurred no extra insurance or staff costs to provide the additional services and when placed in the context of HCC’s overall waste budget of £40 million, £7,500 seems insignificant.
In the first year of operation the new facilities received nearly five tonnes of chemical waste, over 50% of which was pesticide waste. HCC have received support from their residents for this new service and are continuing to expand the scheme. In September 2004 they will open facilities for accepting chemical waste at a further three HWRCs. A further four HWRCs will install facilities to be opened in January 2005. The collected hazardous household waste is currently sent to a pyrolysis plant in Bristol for final safe disposal.