We've published in full below the advice we've received from the county council:
Household Waste Recycling Centres
You will be aware that in compliance with the “stay at home”
regulations, nearly all Councils nationally had their Household Waste Recycling
Centres (HWRCs) closed. Last week the Secretary of State for Housing,
Communities and Local Government announced that he will be asking councils to
reopen their facilities over the coming weeks. The guidance to accompany this
has now been received. It does not set a date for the opening of sites, and
leaves this to each local authority to determine. It emphasises that householders
should only take waste to a HWRC if it cannot be stored safely at
home and no alternative disposal options are available.
In anticipation of the guidance, the Council has been
working with our contractor, HW Martins to consider the practicalities of
re-opening. As a large Council, this means developing plans over each of its
twelve sites. Consideration includes the following:
- Range of materials that can be collected and stored (recycling markets are currently struggling, and many supply chains need renegotiating).
- On site arrangements to ensure social distancing (limiting the numbers of vehicles on site, ensuring space on walkways, reconfiguring lay-out, signage).
- Training of staff, PPE and washing facilities as well as changes to user practices, such as no assistance to be provided in lifting items out of vehicles.
- External traffic management – some of our sites risk spillage onto main highway or blocking access for key businesses/services. This element of work includes highway signage, consultation with and advice from the Police.
I am pleased to confirm that we are planning to have all
twelve facilities open, with a maximum range of materials, for Monday 18th
May. I do appreciate that some Councils, possibly with fewer sites, or
different supply chains, or restrictions on waste types/vehicles may open
slightly earlier, however the Government guidance does make it clear that a
risk assessment should be in place for both staff and householders, and it is
vital that we get this right. I will advise closer to that date regarding
opening times, and am pleased to confirm in addition to cars without
restriction, we are able to take vans, pickup, minibus or vehicles towing
a trailers providing they have an electronic permit – a system that has been in
place for the last two years.
I hope that this does address what will be a common query
from your constituents, especially given the national profile of this topic.
Whilst some Councils are proposing an appointment or selective (eg number
plate) system, we want to have the new opening as close to normal as we can,
and provide maximum flexibility. This requires the implementation of robust
traffic management systems, currently subject to Police consultation, which we
can scale up or down according to demand at each site.
Bulky Goods Collection Service
Whilst the reopening of household waste sites will be
welcomed by many, for those without use of a vehicle it provides no relief. You
will be aware that the bulky goods collection service has needed to be
suspended, and deployed to assist the main refuse and recycling rounds.
We have needed to give careful consideration to the safety
considerations of recommencing this service, especially for larger items
requiring two people to lift. I am pleased to confirm however that following
national guidance, and with the provision of personal protective equipment we
have been able to develop safe working procedures. As a result we are able to
take bookings for this service from Tuesday 12th May, with the first
appointments for collection itself starting on 18th May. The website
will be changed over the next few days and from Tuesday residents can either
book online (http://www.durham.gov.uk/bulkywaste)
or contact 03000 260000.
