Council tip no longer takes car parts?
Discussion
Been helping out a relative today, fitting a couple of new posts and fence panels after they blew down. They asked me kindly if I would take the old stuff up to the tip for them.
No problem thinks I, trailer is half-full with all the left over parts from my nearing-completion range rover resto and the recent brake job on my boxster. So off i toddle to the tip.
I checked in, told the guy i'd got wood and scrap metal. Sent round to the appropriate bays....
Start chucking my discs and pads into the metal bin and got pounced on almost immediately. "We don't take car parts anymore mate...." Next thing I know he's fishing the bits I'd thrown in back out and then going through the trailer, telling me what I can/ can't dispose of....
Electric gate motors (dead) - no problem
Old angle grinder - no problem
Broken gazebo, in it's bag, complete with canopy etc - chuck it in pal!!
Pure metal brake discs. Some springs and shock absorbers.... nope.
I mean why??? What's the point, I'm not a commercial busoiness, not in a commercial vehicle, just a bloke doing DIY.
No wonder there's fly tipping on every corner.
No problem thinks I, trailer is half-full with all the left over parts from my nearing-completion range rover resto and the recent brake job on my boxster. So off i toddle to the tip.
I checked in, told the guy i'd got wood and scrap metal. Sent round to the appropriate bays....
Start chucking my discs and pads into the metal bin and got pounced on almost immediately. "We don't take car parts anymore mate...." Next thing I know he's fishing the bits I'd thrown in back out and then going through the trailer, telling me what I can/ can't dispose of....
Electric gate motors (dead) - no problem
Old angle grinder - no problem
Broken gazebo, in it's bag, complete with canopy etc - chuck it in pal!!
Pure metal brake discs. Some springs and shock absorbers.... nope.
I mean why??? What's the point, I'm not a commercial busoiness, not in a commercial vehicle, just a bloke doing DIY.
No wonder there's fly tipping on every corner.

I get that councils are struggling financially but it must be cheaper to be flexible at recycling centres than pay for cleaning up fly tippling. I not a metallurgist so I can’t say whether the curing process of brake discs means they can’t be recycled but surely they’d just be non-recyclable non-toxic landfill?
it's a joke these days, the councils are charging more council tax and doing less and less from bin emptying ,tip usage, repairing the footpaths there are cracked flags and weeds growing everywhere , they dont mow the grass anymore ,blocked drains broken grids and the roads are dangerous. No surprise there's rubbish everywhere honestly the whole country is a dump. As for you brake disc'a just put them in your bin between a few black bags thats what i do with everything now, phuck em!
Our local tip hasn't taken car parts for years.
And the nearest vehicle recycler/scrap yard is now more than 50 miles away since all the local ones closed down.
There's a local guy who comes around and collects the metal stuff (discs, springs, hubs etc) when i've got a decent pile. But the plastic and upholstery etc has to be cut up and put into the general waste bin and hope they don't recognise it as a bumper or seat or whatever.
I've got a couple of airbags from a seat that have been sat in my garage for years because there is no way of legally/safely getting rid of them
And the nearest vehicle recycler/scrap yard is now more than 50 miles away since all the local ones closed down.
There's a local guy who comes around and collects the metal stuff (discs, springs, hubs etc) when i've got a decent pile. But the plastic and upholstery etc has to be cut up and put into the general waste bin and hope they don't recognise it as a bumper or seat or whatever.
I've got a couple of airbags from a seat that have been sat in my garage for years because there is no way of legally/safely getting rid of them
Ours seems ok - chucked springs and a pair of wings in the tip recently. They do watch you like a hawk though even once you've got through the checkpoint at the entrance where you need to explain exactly what you have in the boot whilst the gestapo are peering through the back windows of the car...
Yup been like this for ages. I chance my luck with the odd brake disk etc and hide it in other rubbish. Otherwise it gets wrapped up in the black bin bag in the bin at home... What a waste....
An explanation I had a while ago was that car parts contain asbestos therefore its a big nope! Not sure thats the case for most things these days But one could say the same about a lot of other items that they just take without issue.
An explanation I had a while ago was that car parts contain asbestos therefore its a big nope! Not sure thats the case for most things these days But one could say the same about a lot of other items that they just take without issue.
I've always taken mine to the tip and never had any issues.
As it happens I've got a set of discs and a motorbike chain and sprockets lying in the garage waiting for my next tip trip.
Looking on their website it doesn't specifically exclude car parts, but we shall see.
I think I must have quite an honest face as whenever they ask me what I've got in the car at the two sites I visit they just believe me regardless!
"What you got in there mate, any rubble or plasterboard?"
"No, just some old junk out of the loft and a kilo of unstable plutonium"
"Skip number 12, right at the end"
"Cheers"
As it happens I've got a set of discs and a motorbike chain and sprockets lying in the garage waiting for my next tip trip.
Looking on their website it doesn't specifically exclude car parts, but we shall see.
I think I must have quite an honest face as whenever they ask me what I've got in the car at the two sites I visit they just believe me regardless!
"What you got in there mate, any rubble or plasterboard?"
"No, just some old junk out of the loft and a kilo of unstable plutonium"
"Skip number 12, right at the end"
"Cheers"
Simon_GH said:
I get that councils are struggling financially but it must be cheaper to be flexible at recycling centres than pay for cleaning up fly tippling. I not a metallurgist so I can’t say whether the curing process of brake discs means they can’t be recycled but surely they’d just be non-recyclable non-toxic landfill?
I also dont understand this, it must cost a fortune to clean up fly tipping.tegwin said:
An explanation I had a while ago was that car parts contain asbestos therefore its a big nope! Not sure thats the case for most things these days But one could say the same about a lot of other items that they just take without issue.
Brake pads used to contain asbestos, though why they're safe to use but not safe to throw away is unclear.Brakes disks however make no sense, they're just lumps of steel.
I was trying to get rid of an old semi rusty VW Golf front wing.
Tip gent said no car parts as I was about to put it in the scrap metal one.
I took it back home, and bent/crushed it into a non-wing recognisable state then took it back on the next visit. Even showed the guys and asked which skip for scrap metal... no issues.
Maybe its a blanket rule due to oils/fluids etc for large bits and the tip workers just say no for anything car related to avoid any issues from their boss.
Tip gent said no car parts as I was about to put it in the scrap metal one.
I took it back home, and bent/crushed it into a non-wing recognisable state then took it back on the next visit. Even showed the guys and asked which skip for scrap metal... no issues.
Maybe its a blanket rule due to oils/fluids etc for large bits and the tip workers just say no for anything car related to avoid any issues from their boss.
Simpo Two said:
Brake pads used to contain asbestos, though why they're safe to use but not safe to throw away is unclear.
Brakes disks however make no sense, they're just lumps of steel.
They did 40 odd years ago, not sure there would be many left now tho.Brakes disks however make no sense, they're just lumps of steel.
At the end of the day what do they think you will do with them if they dont take them?
Car scrap yards are largely a thing of the past, around here atleast.
Recently had the same with a bath tub...
Wife called the council as they do collect large objects for £40, cheaper than me hiring a van... only to be told they don't take baths. Tip also doesn't take baths, so what do you do???
Well... out came the angle grinder and an hour later and I have 1/2 dozen bin bags full of chopped up bath, swiftly disposed off at the tip.
Wife called the council as they do collect large objects for £40, cheaper than me hiring a van... only to be told they don't take baths. Tip also doesn't take baths, so what do you do???
Well... out came the angle grinder and an hour later and I have 1/2 dozen bin bags full of chopped up bath, swiftly disposed off at the tip.
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