Residential van permits for recycling centres

You can apply for a permit to use our recycling centres if a van is your household's only form of transport.

Vans - residential exemption permits

Vans used for business purposes are not allowed to use any household recycling centre (HRC) managed by the Dorset Waste Partnership (DWP).

However, if your household's only form of transport is a van or other type of load-carrying vehicle, you can apply for a residential exemption permit to take household waste to our HRCs.

A permit will only be issued if your vehicle is:

the sole means of transport for your household
privately owned by or registered to you
not sign-written
not used for any business or commercial activity

If you are the vehicle's owner and have a residential exemption permit, you can take your household waste to any of our HRCs during opening hours, seven days a week. Permits can be renewed every year. HRC staff will check your permit whenever you visit a HRC to ensure it is valid.

Hire vans

Hire vans can be used to take household waste to any of our HRCs. HRC staff will need to check the hire agreement, as only short-term hire (three days maximum) vehicles will be accepted.

Commercial vehicle vouchers

If you fail to qualify for a residential exemption permit, you can apply for commercial vehicle vouchers.

How to apply

To apply for a residential exemption permit, please contact the DWP.

Please note:

Without a valid permit, voucher or hire agreement document, HRC staff will refuse entry to vans
For all vans and load-carrying vehicles, there is a one-tonne maximum weight limit on waste taken per visit
For our policy, a van is defined as a vehicle with a rear load-carrying capacity instead of seats and panels to the rear instead of windows
The largest vehicle accepted is a Ford Transit-type van and no vehicle more than 3.5 tonnes gross weight will be allowed onto any site
Large trailers more than 1.2 metres wide and 1.8 metres long cannot be used to take waste to our HRCs
Permits and vouchers are issued per household and not on an individual basis
Checks will be carried out by the DWP for all applications received
Please allow 10 days for applications to be processed