From the beginning of the year, households no longer have to pay to dispose of small-scale DIY waste at council recycling centres.
It is hoped the change will boost recycling and make it easier for people to dispose of their waste in a responsible manner.
The fees previously charged by around one-third of local authorities to dispose of DIY waste have been abolished by the government.
Now, all councils in England will treat DIY waste the same as other household waste when it meets certain conditions, such as not exceeding 2x 50L rubble bags.

According to the latest figures, the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme in Scotland has saved households more than £3.5 billion in council tax since it was introduced a decade ago.
The latest figures published by the Scottish Government show 460,860 recipients received CTR in October 2023, meaning one-in-five households were benefiting from the scheme.
People on low incomes are eligible for CTR if they live in Scotland. Those who receive CTR save on average £800 a year and become eligible for up to 35% off their water and waste charges.

The Government has announced reforms intended to make it easer for people and businesses to reuse and recycle their old electrical goods.
Statistics have shown that an estimated 155,000 tonnes of smaller household electricals such as cables, toasters, kettles and power tools are wrongly thrown in the bin each year and UK homes are thought to hoard a further 527 million unwanted electrical items containing valuable materials such as gold, silver and platinum.
On top of this, 500 tonnes of Christmas lights are discarded every year in the UK.

£25 million of funding has been announced to rescue museums, pubs, parks and cinemas across the country.
Successful bidders will receive a share of the Community Ownership Fund.
More than 70 buildings across the UK are to receive funding.
For the first time, £2 million will be granted to individual projects.
Just over £2 million will go to Wolverhampton Grand Theatre to enable it to buy a neighbouring 1800s building and turn it into an adjoining venue.

New figures have revealed. That £1.1 billion has been generated over the last year, through a drive to make more efficient use of Government land and buildings.
£1.1 billion of property sales have been achieved in the past year, meaning more than two thirds of the three-year target has been delivered in the first twelve months.

The Welsh Government has announced a 3.1 per cent increase in local government funding.
Core revenue funding for local government will increase by 3.1% on a like-for-like basis, compared to the current year, with no local authority receiving less than a 2 per cent increase.
Schools, social services and social care, refuse and recycling collections and other key services provided by local authorities will be backed with £5.7 billion in Welsh Government Revenue Support Grant and non-domestic rates.

The Department for Transport has announced £235 million to upgrade and repair roads across London.
The funding is redirected from HS2 to resurface roads across the capital over the next 11 years.
Allocations for each London borough and Transport for London have been confirmed, meaning authorities can start spending immediately.

The Scottish Government has unveiled its budget for 2024-25.
There will be a £6.3 billion investment in social security benefits, which will be increased in line with inflation and more than £19.5 billion for health and social care.
There will also be record funding for local authorities and frontline police and fire services.
There is £13.2 billion for frontline NHS boards, with additional investment of more than half a billion – an uplift of over 4 per cent.

The Mayor of London has proposed an increase in council tax, as a response to a lack of government funding for the police, fire and transport services.
The Mayor said that the Met Police is currently with the greatest period of sustained pressure on its resources since the Olympics in 2012, with a large increase in the number of marches, protests and national events taking place in the capital. However, the government has not provided additional funding.