Disposing of household waste in County Durham is now easier than ever following the introduction of electronic permits.
Residents visiting a Durham County Council household waste recycling centre (HWRC) with a van, pickup, minibus or towing a trailer, and those bringing hazardous materials, need a waste permit.
As of this week, people can now receive one via email in addition to the traditional paper method.
By applying online, an electronic permit, containing a QR code, will be emailed to the person, in most cases, instantly.
Residents simply take a mobile device which has email or a print out of their permit to the HWRC and have their individual QR code scanned on site, as demonstrated (above) by Durham County Council’s senior monitoring officer Debbie Hibbitts.
John Shannon, the council’s strategic waste manager, said: “We want to make it as easy as possible for residents to appropriately dispose of their waste.
“We appreciate that people are doing more and more online and less by traditional routes for ease, speed and convenience and it is only right that we should be moving with the times and allowing them to arrange to get rid of their household waste electronically.”
Residents are encouraged to download the permit to their device ahead of their visit in case they can not get a signal when on site.
For those that still prefer a paper permit, applications can be made as before by calling 03000 260 000. These can be collected at the council’s customer access points.
To get a permit electronically, set up, or log in to, an online account visit: doitonline.durham.gov.uk
More information and a list of all of the council’s HWRCs is available online at: www.durham.gov.uk/hwrc