Too many people are trying to sell vans with mountains of rubbish left inside them says auction giant BCA. The unwanted junk it has found in vehicles that arrive at its sites includes everything from old computer screens and car batteries to piles of worn-out tyres and lumps of concrete.“If we spot a van that's full of waste then we'll turn it away, but they sometimes slip through the net,” says a BCA spokesman.
“We certainly won't sell a vehicle with rubbish inside it,” he continues. “We'll either contact the vendor and ask him to take it away and get rid of the rubbish before he brings the vehicle back to us or we'll offer to dispose of the waste ourselves for a fee prior to the sale.”
All this rigmarole means that the light commercial is going to take a lot longer to sell. As a result the vendor will be waiting a lot longer for his money.
Getting rid of waste legally and in an environmentally-friendly manner can of course be expensive. “The cost of disposal can range from £75 for a small load to upwards of £250 for a large one,” says Duncan Ward, BCA's UK business development manager, commercial vehicles. “If the waste is hazardous then the cost can escalate again because it has to be handled and disposed of according to strict health and safety guidelines.”
The rules became tighter on 30 October when the Landfill Regulations 2002 (England and Wales) came into force. Break the rules on waste disposal and you're in trouble. Even a minor offence can attract a £300 fine, with a fine of up to £5,000 and a possible six month prison sentence awaiting you if you're convicted of fly-tipping.
