What goes in which bin

The council's requirements under section 46 of The Environmental Protection Act 1990

We have a duty to collect household waste. Part of this duty involves setting standards for residents to understand how waste must be stored and presented for collection.

Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs)

You are responsible for your waste. One of the main factors of untidy neighbourhoods is litter as a result of refuse and recycling not being contained properly or being presented too early for collection. We want to minimise this kind of litter as this is something that you've said is important to you.

We will attempt to encourage co-operation from residents, before issuing an FPN.

Our procedure is as follows:

• We provide information about waste management on our website, on recycling calendars and other leaflets; in our council magazines, our contact centre, and the local press.
• When we have identified a property, or whole area, that is not following guidelines, we issue an advisory letter and s46 notice which outlines responsibilities regarding management of waste (refuse and recycling).
• We will then issue a FPN to any properties that fail to comply with the conditions of the section 46 notice.

What if you don't agree with your Fixed Penalty Notice?

If you dispute your FPN we will only review two things:

• Has the FPN been issued correctly? If the FPN has spelling mistakes or the wrong date, another FPN can be issued.
• Did the officer have adequate evidence that the offence took place? In most cases, the officer's word that they witnessed an offence is deemed to be enough.

Where a person feels an FPN has been issued wrongly they must write in within seven calendar days of receiving the FPN to the Head of Environment, Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL8 6AE.

Once an FPN is challenged we can only accept cash or cheque payments.