County Council urged to safely re-open recycling centres
Pressure is building on Warwickshire County Council to re-open household recycling centres (HWRC) as soon as safely possible, to prevent further fly tipping and dangerous fires in the county.
Some centres across the country have already started to re-open, and while the county council says talks have been taking place, they have yet to set a date.
A council spokesperson said: “Councils are as keen as their residents to open HWRCs as soon as practicable, but HWRCs can only open when it is safe to do so. Both staff and visitors need to be assured that the right measures are in place to prevent the spread of infection in these busy locations full of discarded waste.
“These measures will include clear Government guidance that going to an HWRC is essential travel, space and barriers on site to help people socially distance, sufficient site staff to manage the operation to ensure public safety is not put at risk and the ability to dispose of waste delivered to sites, as our disposal and recycling contractors need to be open to receive waste.
“Support also needs to be in place to safely manage visitor flow and the inevitable traffic queues.
“These and more measures are being discussed at a national, regional and county level, so that HWRCs can be opened safely as soon as is feasible, based on safe systems for both the public and staff.”
The council is urging residents to use available kerbside collections until then and to visit its website for the latest news on recycling centres.
Cllr Richard Chattaway, Labour Group leader, said: “I am glad to hear that many recycling centres across Warwickshire may be re-opening soon, when it is safe to do so.
“We feel that tips can be safely managed with perhaps a booking system initially to manage numbers, and we feel social distancing could be managed within the centres. We realise there is a need to ensure that the contractors who remove the waste from the sites are operating also, but the repercussions of people not being able to use the recycling centres and dispose of recyclable and non-recyclable waste could include a risk to health safety, so it is vital such centres re-open.”