North Devon businesses face shock as council scraps trade waste collections

North Devon Council is scrapping its 20-year-old trade waste collection service because it’s losing £67,000 a year.

Members of the council’s strategy and resources committee decided against raising the charges by 25 per cent to “break even” over fears that the authority would lose customers and get into more debt.

The subsidised refuse and recycling service is used by around 2,000 businesses, who will now have to make private arrangements. Unlike domestic waste collections, the council does not have to provide trade waste collections by law.

Members were split over the issue, with chairman of the committee Cllr David Clayton (Lib Dem, Barnstaple with Westacott) having the casting vote.

Last month, councillors were warned that the difference between income and expenditure was likely to rise to more than £200,000 in 2026/27 if the council did nothing, and it would become “a millstone around their necks.”

Pleas were made by some councillors to go forward with the rise, as the service was much valued, especially by rural and small businesses, and the loss of it could lead to fly-tipping.

But others worried that businesses might seek out other options following a price hike, especially from private companies who also offered food waste collections as well as refuse and recycling collections.

Cllr Malcolm Prowse (Ind, Bratton Fleming) said the council’s reputational damage would be greater if they withdrew the whole service, and a refuse-only collection was a “reasonable compromise” that businesses would appreciate.

But his amendment to continue with refuse-only collections, which would mean a seven or eight per cent rise as there was no need to replace expensive vehicles imminently, was lost, also on the chairman’s casting vote.

Environmental enhancement officer for the council, Mark Kentell, said it was a difficult decision for the council, but if it continued with trade waste, it would have to take a much more commercial approach, and the service could no longer be subsidised.

There was a mixed reaction from both rural and urban businesses during a consultation, he said.

Cllr David Clayton supported the end of trade waste collections, as he said the council could be “in an awkward position in the next couple of years, it is a non-statutory duty, and there were other providers.”

Cllr David Knight (Lib Dem, Roundswell) warned that more difficult decisions on “extra services” the council provided might have to be made ahead of setting the budget for 2026/27.

“We have to deliver statutory services, and this is not one. Businesses, when they operate, accept to take this on and have to resolve all the issues as a business,” he said.

Cllr Pru Maskell (Con, Braunton West and Georgeham) said some businesses she had spoken to were happy for charges to go up by 25 per cent.

“One was adamant that the service offered by North Devon Council was superior, and they were confident that if there was an issue, they would know who to go to,” she said.

Trade waste collections will cease in April after the notice period is served on customers. Businesses will get assistance in finding new providers. Mid Devon Council and several private companies had expressed an interest in filling the gap, members were told.