Customer booked 247 Dumfries and Galloway recycling centre visits

A council is considering putting a cap on the number of visits to its household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) – after one customer booked nearly 250 in the space of a year.

The situation was highlighted in a report to Dumfries and Galloway Council’s economy and infrastructure committee.

The visits were carried out between April 2024 and May this year – mainly at facilities in Annan and Lockerbie.

The report concluded it suggested “potential misuse of our facilities by commercial operators” and that imposing some kind of limit on visits would now be considered as part of a wider review of the service.

The council operates a network of 12 HWRCs across the region for residents to deposit waste, including items not collectible at kerbside such as electrical goods, rubble or DIY waste.

They are located in towns across the region from Stranraer in the west to Annan in the east.

Residents use an online booking system to obtain a time slot to leave their rubbish.

However, one customer made 247 bookings between April 2024 and March this year – of which 218 were completed, 25 were cancelled and four were “no shows”.

The majority of them – 125 – were to the Annan centre, with 90 in Lockerbie and three at other sites.

Another 254 users have booked more than 52 visits – equivalent to one a week – over the same time period.

Now a review of the service will look at whether a maximum number of visits needs to be set.

A communication campaign is also planned to “educate and inform our citizens on what they can do to help improve our recycling figures and move away from the ‘dump’ culture”.

That includes improved site signage being installed to improve recycling at HWRCs.

The council said it intended to carry out a review of all the facilities with regards to site users and customer experience.