Birmingham residents will soon benefit from the introduction of a "Proof of Residency" scheme at the City's 5 Household Recycling Centres (HRC's) after a survey reveals that 15% of people using the facilities were not Birmingham residents.

Councillor Len Gregory, Cabinet Member for Transportation & Street Services, said: "National and local policy requires us to reduce the amount of domestic waste that the City disposes of, and with the help of our residents, Birmingham is already increasing the amount of waste that it recycles and reducing the amount of black bag waste that goes to incineration or to landfill.

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"The City's 5 HRC's are an important part of the City's waste disposal operation and provide residents with the opportunity to dispose of waste that cannot be collected through the household collection services. However a recent survey of site users revealed that around 15% of the people using our facilities were not Birmingham residents. This accounts for over 13,000 tonnes of non-Birmingham waste each year which unfairly impacts upon Birmingham's waste reduction performance and waste disposal costs.

"The same survey gauged Birmingham residents' views on the possible introduction of a resident-only scheme and 82.6% of Birmingham respondents thought that it was a good idea."

In response to the survey the City will be introducing a 'Birmingham residents only' policy at all 5 sites from 1st July 2009, backed by an extensive information campaign. From this date all visitors to the sites will be asked to verbally provide their postcode details, which will be checked to ensure that they live within the Birmingham local authority area. Visitors from outside Birmingham will be politely informed about the scheme and given details of the facilities available in their own local authority area.

(CD/JM)