Cuts proposed to recycling sites

Wiltshire Council wants to save £250,000 by cutting the number of mini recycling sites and the opening hours at Wiltshire's household recycling centres.

The current policy of opening the HRCs until 7pm on Wednesday and Thursday evenings in the summer would be scrapped, with the centres closing at 5pm every evening. The council also believes that following the county-wide introduction of kerbside cardboard and plastic bottle collection many of the bring sites will not be needed.

Currently there are just over 300 local mini recycling sites in Wiltshire. The mini recycling sites are being used less by residents and the recycling tonnage collected has reduced year on year. The table shows a steady decline in the use of paper, glass and can sites, plus a more recent decline in use of sites for plastic bottles and cardboard.

Consultation Process

The council will be consulting on the proposed changes. The consultation process will seek comments and feedback on the proposals by asking respondents to complete a short questionnaire. The consultation process will focus on use of the local mini recycling sites and HRCs, the impact of the changes on residents' opportunity to recycle and the criteria which will be used to determine which mini recycling sites should be removed.

The deadline for comments and feedback is 28 May.

The proposal and questionnaire will be available online at

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/rubbishrecycling/localrecyclingcentresconsultation.htm

(for information and link to questionnaire)

and

http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling2012.htm

(for questionnaire)

Following completion of the consultation, the service will provide a report on the results, with a recommendation about which local mini recycling sites should be retained and which should be closed.

For further information please contact Andy Conn, Head of Waste Management on 01225 713422

or andy.conn@wiltshire.gov.uk