Western Riverside Waste Authority, R (on the application of) v Wandsworth Borough Council. Country/Territory United Kingdom Type of court Others Date Apr 7, 2005 Source UNEP, InforMEA Court name High Court of Justice Judge Evans-Lombe. Reference number [2005] EWHC 536 (Admin) Language English Subject Waste & hazardous substances Keyword Solid waste Food waste Organic waste Waste disposal Tax/levy Waste domestic sources Waste management Waste non-domestic sources Fiscal and market measures Transport/storage Abstract The setting of reasonable charges for the collection of commercial waste was in issue in the present case. The powers and duties of the Authority and the Constituent Boroughs for the purposes of the collection and disposal of waste are the subject of a succession of Acts but primarily derived from the Environmental Protection Act 1990 ("the 1990 Act"). The Authority is a "waste disposal authority"("a WDA") pursuant to section 30(2)(b)(i) of the 1990 Act. Wandsworth and the other Constituent Boroughs are "waste collection authorities"("WCAs") in their respective areas pursuant to section 30(3)(b)(i) of that Act. A WDA has a duty to create reception points where WCAs can deposit waste collected by them for disposal and has a power to direct WCAs in its area to deposit waste collected by each WCA at such collection points as it may select. So far as concerns commercial waste, a WCA is only under a duty to collect it if requested by a commercial waste producer in its area to do so, for which service it may levy "a reasonable charge" unless it "considers it inappropriate to do so". The disposal authority considered that the collection authority had set its charges at higher level than was reasonable, whereas the collection authority contended that it was merely seeking to ensure full recovery of its costs in circumstances where it expected to be losing at least some business in any event. The judge held there was no basis upon which the court could hold that the defendant council's fixing of its tariff for the provision of commercial waste collection services for commercial organisations situated in Wandsworth was unlawful as not constituting a reasonable charge pursuant to s 45(4) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The judge also rejected the submission that the charging power must be exercised so as to promote a supposed legislative objective of allowing the disposal authority to have the power of direction over waste so as to be able to plan its strategy. The Environmental Protection Act contemplated that the producers of waste should have a choice about who collected it, and it was permissible for the collection authority to set its charges at a level appropriate to the provision of a residual service. . Full text COU-156431.pdf