Islanders disposing of larger amounts of DIY waste at the Isle of Wight’s Household Waste Recycling Centres will have to pay from today (Monday), as controversial new charges come into force amid opposition from residents.
The new charging system takes effect today (Monday) at Lynnbottom and Afton Marsh, although residents will still be able to dispose of limited quantities of DIY waste free of charge.
The changes were approved as part of the Isle of Wight Council’s budget in February 2026.
Each household can dispose of 2x 50-litre rubble sacks per visit free of charge, up to 4 times in any 4-week period. Charges will apply once that allowance has been exceeded.
For rubble and hardcore, including bricks, tiles and ceramics, an additional 50-litre sack will cost £4. A small load of up to 4 sacks will cost £15, while a large load equivalent to a car boot or trailer will cost £30.
Plasterboard will have a 50-litre free allowance, with a standard sheet measuring up to 2.4m x 1.2m costing £5 and a half sheet or bagged equivalent costing £3.
Additional 50-litre bags of soil and subsoil will cost £4, while a bulk load equivalent to a car boot will cost £25.
Mixed construction waste will cost £5 for each additional 50-litre equivalent, £20 for a small load and £35 for a large load.
Small household quantities of wood within the free allowance will remain free, with larger DIY volumes charged at £10 per load. The free allowance covers a total of 50 litres of DIY waste and not 50 litres of each different material.
General household rubbish and recycling are unaffected.
All visits to dispose of DIY waste must be booked online in advance, with payment for chargeable waste required before it is accepted.
Waste generated through contractor-led work, major renovations or brought to a recycling centre by a third party can also be considered commercial waste.
The Isle of Wight Council has previously said the charges are not a money-making exercise and will instead cover the cost of providing the service.
Natasha Dix, Service Director for Waste, Environment and Planning, has previously said:
“Most residents only generate small amounts of DIY waste and will still be able to dispose of this free of charge.
“The changes mean the cost of disposing of larger amounts of construction waste is paid by those using the service most, helping us maintain the service for all residents.”
However, some Islanders remain unhappy about the changes, with hundreds backing a petition calling for the charges to be reversed.
The Change.org petition, launched by Isle of Wight business owner Daniel Moss, argues that many residents carry out their own DIY because they cannot afford contractors and that relatively modest projects could generate more waste than the free allowance permits.
Campaigners have also raised concerns that charging for DIY waste could encourage fly-tipping.
The petition calls for the charges to be scrapped or for alternatives to be considered, including a larger free allowance, a monthly free quota, exemptions for essential home repairs and a full public consultation.
Despite the opposition, the new charging system is now in force at both of the Isle of Wight’s Household Waste Recycling Centres.
The petition can be found here.
The amount of “rubble” allowed isn’t do it self surely so it must be professionals and they have always had to pay.
They are now encouraging people to fly tip.
Too be honest our extortionate Council Tax fees
should covers these additional charges.
The Council should concentrate on persons
EVADING PAYING PARKING CHARGES WHILST
PARKING ON THE PAVEMENT OUTSIDE THE OLD TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE OPPOSITE SANDOWN PIER!
Their policies and strategies are all over the show!
Seriously have you never done a DIY project like re-tile your bathroom or removed a garden wall/steps. So many small jobs would easily hit that quota. All that fees do is encourage fly tipping.
Fly tipping is definitely going to increase, which will cost the council more long term.
Council tax should cover all of this.
Council being greedy again and making up for money they have wasted on unnecessary bullshit and squeezing us more and more. There WILL be a massive increase in fly tipping now, and when that happens who pays for the clean up?? This country is turning into the 3rd world shit holes the immigrants are more accustomed to.
Get prepared for all the country lanes to be filled with fly tipped waste. Would you blame them. Highest council tax in country and they want to charge us more for waste disposal. What about people doing home DIY renovations? I can confidently confirm my home bins will now be constantly overflowing and I will probably just leave my rubbish bags on the pavement on a Monday morning
being a regular user of Lynnbottom tip, I just can’t see how this is going to work…
you make your booking.
you turn up at the allotted time.
they check your registration number,
you park up
you unload your car full of rubbish into the various skips.
how are they going to police what you have in your car and put into the skips?
are you going to have to empty every bag, before they let you in, so they can check what’s in it?
what happens when the queue to get in is (because of the delays caused by them checking every bag), is back to the Hare & Hounds, like it used to be…
“Each household can dispose of 2x 50-litre rubble sacks per visit free of charge, up to 4 times in any 4-week period.”
are thy going to keep a tally of every thing you dump ?
what it you only have 1/2 a sack?
can you do the extra half next-time?
& what (exactly) is classed as DIY waste anyway ???
they’ve always (certainly in recent years) charged for plasterboard anyway..& done it by weight, which is far easier.
Surely the extra staff needed for all the checking will cost far more than the money they make from it…..
& I’d imagine that anyone who has any DIY waste, will just put it in black bin bags & tell them it’s ‘household waste’ ….
Screwing the public again to get wasted money back, we will be screwed for more council tax again, we will get screwed for more policing again that we won’t get, so I guess we are all screwed yet again!
Get ready to see lots of beauty spots covered in rubbish. Then the council will have to pay to remove it. This naive and ill-thought idea will cost the council even more money.
Well let’s face it IW Council cannot STOP numpties parking illegally
or speeding, so what chance do they have STOPPING Flytipping.
A split condom is more effective, run by numpties, local numpties.
IF YOU WANT TO STOP ILLEGAL PARKING DO WHAT
LORD SIR SADIQ KHAN HAS DONE
BAN PAVEMENT PARKING ISLANDWIDE
PLACE SPEED CAMERA”S ISLANDWIDE TO STOP SPEEDING
AND PLACE CCTV ISLANDWIDE SO YOU WILL CATCH NUMPTIES
FLYTIPPING
Until things are put in place Flytipping etc will be rife, numpties won’t
want to pay to have items disposed of, not to mention the price of
fuel driving to the tip.
IT’S A RECIPE FOR DISASTER AND A BLOT ON THE LANDSCAPE
Ok everyone get ready.time to pull your pants down and get bonked by the council again
What a load of tosh, of course it WILL raise extra council revenue. All the above was previously covered under the old system. Adding a new, more complicated system and charging for it makes no sense. Commercial builders already pay to dispose of their rubbish. We already pay for this household waste disposal in our council tax so it is an extra Tax! Any chance there was any consultation?