Booking system for recycling centres set to end

Lincolnshire County Council’s £9,000 a month click and tip booking system will come to an end when social distancing guidelines end.

Members of the authority’s Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday will be asked to approve the stopping of the booking system to allow residents uncontrolled access to sites.

However, a registration system for residents with vans and trailers will be continued.

According to a report before councillors, the current cost of the system is around £9,000 a month – £8,000 processing costs and £1,000 for staff time.

It has been running since May 11, 2020 – around 14 months – for a total of £126,000.

The report warns that if the booking system was kept a further £5,000 cost of staff time would be needed to develop the software and make more slots available.

It said there are merits to keeping the booking system, but warned: “There may be a public perception that the “click and tip” system has served its purpose and may not be required once society returns to a level of normality.”

The HWRC system across the county still saw a “significant decrease” in the amount of waste accepted during the pandemic operations.

Just 24,558 tonnes were collected last year, compared to 71,450 – a reduction of 46,892.

The booking system had also seen between 12-15% of slots result in no-shows which the report said ‘represents an inefficient burden on the service when the greater demand of frustrated residents could be satisfied.’

The report said there were still a ‘high proportion of complaints’ from residents and interest from media about the continued use of the booking system.

“Some complaints state that fly-tipping is a consequence of the booking system, however there is no evidence to connect the two issues but the public perception still continues,” it said. The report also suggests a combined system due to concerns over an ‘influx of residents which could become unmanageable at peak periods,’ however, said this would still need staff management