The over-charging of charity shops by councils to collect and then dispose of their waste costs each shop around £400 per annum.

This is the view of the Association of Charity Shops (ACS) which points out that councils are subject to the Controlled Waste Regulations which state that waste from charity shops is classified as household, rather that commercial waste and that councils may therefore only charge for collecting it, not also disposing of it (See Charity Matters, Issue 5, THE COUNCIL WASTE CON).

According to ACS, quoted in association trade magazine Membership Today, city councils in Birmingham, Southampton and Norwich are the worst and behave in a “disgraceful” manner over the issue. Since the comment was made public Birmingham City Council, coincidentally of course, have announced a change in its charging policies.