A consultation begins today on plans to issue householders visiting Staffordshire recycling centres with free permits to distinguish between them and traders pretending to be private residents.

The council says the move will allow residents to carry on using Staffordshire's 14 household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) as normal, while discouraging traders who try to avoid paying fees by passing off commercial waste as household rubbish.

Simon Tagg, Staffordshire County Council's Cabinet member for Environment, Infrastructure and Waste, said: "The new system will allow householders to carry on using HWRCs free of charge as usual, while weeding out small businesses which try and avoid paying for the service.

"There's no reason why Staffordshire taxpayers should subsidise commercial use and we want to make sure we get the new system right, so that it's practical and easy to use."

The survey is available here and the feedback will influence the implementation later in 2023.

Information wanted includes how often people use their nearest HWRC, whether they're a householder or commercial user, the type of vehicle used and how often.

Staffordshire is one of few authorities in the area which does accept trade waste to support local businesses, but as it's not a statutory service traders must pay.

Problems arise when traders insist that they are residents with a one-off disposal and – at present – there's no way of challenging that.

The permit will allow residents so many free visits per year to dispose of bulky items.

Staffordshire County Council brought management of its HWRCs back in-house in April, with a commitment to improve facilities and provide greater flexibility to meet future recycling requirements.

Simon Tagg said: "We're investing in our HWRCs so they can change and adapt in future as Staffordshire moves towards its target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050."