Landlord responsibilities around waste

Keeping a handle on your tenants’ waste can be challenging, especially when you are not living at the property. However, as the owner of the building, it is your responsibility to ensure tenants have the correct information, suitable bins and waste storage facilities and to contact your tenants if concerns are raised regarding their waste storage or presentation of waste.

Information to Landlords and Managing Agents – Future Changes to Waste Collections

• Rubbish bins containers (black): The standard container provided is a 140L bin. However, there are different allowances for larger households and Houses of Multiple Occupants (HMOs), so be sure to check with us if what you have seems unsuitable. Flat-fronted properties also have the option to present their rubbish in bags. To stop cats and foxes getting to the rubbish, it is advised to use strong rubbish sacks or a regular round dustbin. The standard allowance is three bags per household. We can provide stickers if the household qualifies for a bigger allowance
• Recycling containers (green): every household should have at least a recycling box or bin. We want to encourage residents to recycle everything they can, so we are always happy to provide larger/additional recycling containers. If the recycling bins at a property are heavily contaminated on a regular basis, it is the landlord’s responsibility to find alternative methods of dealing with the waste.
• Food waste caddy (grey): Please check that your tenants have a small caddy for their kitchen and a bigger caddy to keep outside for collection.
• Garden waste bin (brown): This is an optional service provided by our partner Biffa for a monthly fee. Contact the Green Waste Club if you would like to set up the service.

Important: Bins cannot be stored on the pavement outside of collection days. You must ensure your tenants have a place on your property/land to store their waste. Bins left on the pavement may either be removed or replaced with a smaller one.

Giving tenants the information on the right way to dispose of their waste is particularly important if they come from outside of Portsmouth. You should provide them with the following information:

• Which bins to use
• How/where to put them out for collection
• When they are collected
• What can be recycled at home
• What can be recycled locally at bring banks around Portsmouth

The information can be found on our website, but we can also provide leaflets and bin stickers if you contact us.

If you need to dispose of bulky waste or a build-up of rubbish, you must ensure it is done in a legal manner via a licenced waste carrier. You can run a licence check for your chosen waste carrier on the DEFRA website.

The Council runs a bulky waste collection service in partnership with our waste collection contractor Biffa. Contact us if you would like a quote.

Another option is to use the trade waste chargeable service at the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC). If the waste is not produced by yourself, it is regarded as trade waste and cannot be disposed of at the HWRC for free.

To use this option, you will first need to register as a waste carrier. Once you have your waste carrier licence, you can book a slot at the HWRC and notify the staff on arrival that you have trade waste to dispose of. They will take your details (including your waste carrier licence details) and payment whilst on site. For more information, visit Business, commercial and trade waste | Hampshire County Council

The Waste Team can advise and support with all the above. Landlords as well as residents can contact us on 023 9284 1105 or recyclingandrubbish@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.

• Bin collection and storage facilities – a guide for property developers
• Recycling and rubbish in Portsmouth

Background

The Environment Act 2021 was approved by the Government in November 2021 –   the Act will set out a consistent set of recyclable materials and mandates that as many of these need to be collected as separately as possible.

A new Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) is being developed to meet the requirements of the new law. It will mean that across Hampshire we will be able to collect additional recyclable materials, and to do this, a ‘twin stream’ recycling system will need to be implemented. Twin stream refers to two separate recycling streams. It is expected the MRF will be operational in 2025, and the switch to twin stream will happen then. However, there is some current uncertainty around this timeline due to recently announced government delays in implementing the Environment Act. We will keep you updated as this progresses.

What does this mean for us and tenants?

For Portsmouth, this means that residents will be able to recycle more items at home. However, additional bins for the extra waste streams will need to be provided. The collection system will look as follows, with a separate bin for each waste stream:

• Food waste
• Dry mixed recycling (DMR) to include plastic pots, tubs & tray, cartons, glass & foil trays in addition to materials currently accepted – aerosols, plastic bottles, tins and cans
• Fibre (cardboard & paper)
• Refuse (anything that cannot be placed in the separate recycling streams above excluding DIY/builders waste, bulky waste, garden waste and textiles)

We understand that for a landlord/managing agent, accommodating additional bins for the separate waste streams might not be a simple task which is why we are already trialling changes in some of our Portsmouth City Council (PCC) housing blocks to see what is needed. As part of this work, we have calculated new bin capacities needed to account for these separate waste streams and will be able to advise landlords/managing agents on the requirements. We want to raise the future changes now, so any alterations needed at your blocks, and additional bins required can be factored into your financial planning.

Properties on communal collections should have enough waste capacity (refuse, recycling, and food waste) for the residents residing in the block or property. Any excess or side waste not contained in refuse bins will not be collected by the refuse collection crews and it is your responsibility to manage and dispose of this waste. Landlord/managing agents need to work with residents to ensure they are using bins correctly, recycling the correct materials and not blocking access to bins on collection day.

Where can I get more information?

Portsmouth City Council can offer advice and support as part of our statutory duty. This includes the number and type of bins required, instructions on how and where waste should be presented, and requirements of bin storage facilities. If you require further support, beyond that of our statutory duty, on necessary adaptations you may need to meet the requirements of the Environment Act 2021, we can offer this as a service for a fee. Please contact the team on 023 9284 1105 or email recyclingandrubbish@portsmouthcc.gov.uk for more information.