Household recycling centres (HRC) - FAQs

What is being proposed?

The budget plans in our medium-term financial strategy propose closing two of Shropshire’s five household recycling centres as part of cuts to make the £62m of savings we must find.

Councils with responsibility for waste disposal must provide sites at which residents can deposit their household waste free of charge, and that are reasonably accessible to residents. The law doesn't specify how many sites councils should provide, and it's up to each authority to determine this and what's reasonably accessible based on local circumstances.

Why are there five household recycling centres (HRCs) in Shropshire?

This a legacy of the former two-tier council system prior to Shropshire Council forming in 2009, where the five former district councils each had an HRC.

Why are you proposing to close two sites?

By law we must ensure that HRCs are reasonably accessible to residents at reasonable times. The law doesn't explain what ‘reasonable’ means; however, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) provides guidance to councils stating best practice for an HRC network. This states that HRCs should ideally cover no more than 120,000 residents or 50,000 households.

There are presently around 150,000 households in Shropshire - it would therefore seem reasonable to consider the option to reduce the number of sites from five to three with each serving 50,000 households.

Which sites might close?

Any decision would only be made following extensive research, discussions with our waste contractor Veolia - who operate our five recycling centres - and via this public consultation that will give everybody an opportunity to share their views and concerns. This decision would then have to be agreed by cabinet and full council.

Are there any alternatives to closing HRCs?

We're looking at alternatives that will deliver the required savings, and as part of the consultation are asking whether those who wish to subscribe to the garden collection service would be willing to pay more then the proposed £52 per year, and how much more if this additional money could be used to keep all the HRC open. All the sites are currently open seven days a week, and we're also looking at the possibility of closing for a couple of days a week, and have asked residents for their opinion on this proposal.

If my local site closed, I'd have to drive further to another HRC

At the moment not every market town in Shropshire has its own HRC facility, and it's inevitable that many residents must drive to their nearest facility if they wish to dispose of certain items not collected at the kerbside. However, we strive to emphasise for residents to incorporate their journeys wherever possible.

Additionally, we provide a bulky household waste collection service at a reasonable charge for those residents unable to take items to the HRC for whatever reason. Details of the bulky waste item collection service can be found on the our website, along with information on alternatives to disposal, such as donating to the re-use schemes, or offering items via Freecycle and similar.

Why are you planning to introduce a booking system at the HRCs?

Part of the savings approved by the council includes the introduction of a booking system at the HRC.
Following the Covid outbreak of 2020, several councils introduced an online booking system for using HRCs. They've seen significant benefits to making this change, and have continued with these systems subsequently. This only allows users to access the sites, once they've booked a time specific slot and confirmed various details about themselves and the waste that they want to dispose of.

A booking system would:

Only allow a booking slot to those declaring a Shropshire postcode as a home address, thereby removing any waste from outside the county. This will stop Shropshire residents funding a service that people from outside Shropshire can currently use, but pay nothing towards its cost
Include a declaration that any waste isn't trade or commercial waste
Allow the number of slots to be managed, helping to avoid queuing at busy times and to allow operatives to better engage with users to encourage even more recycling and lower contamination
Limit the number of vans/trailers per hour and per day, which would mean more scrutiny of these loads
Make it difficult for traders to access HRC sites. The sites are for use by householders, not commercial businesses, who should be using alternative arrangements to dispose of their business waste
Help to reduce queues

Would there be an increase in fly tipping?

Fly tipping is a crime that damages the environment, risks public health and costs the council to clear up.

Evidence shows that householders rarely fly-tip; it tends to be rogue traders trying to avoid commercial charges.

All householders have a duty of care to dispose of their waste correctly.

When you dispose of your waste you must use a licensed waste carrier, or take your waste to an HRC. You could be fined if your waste ends up fly-tipped, and you can't show that you took reasonable steps to prevent it.