February 25, 2022 by James Langley

Councils

Redcar and Cleveland replaces skips after safety concerns

Redcar and Cleveland borough council has paid £33,000 to replace six skips at the Dunsdale household waste recycling centre (HWRC) after “a number of safety concerns” were identified.

HWRC operators looking to use the RPS must email the Agency before the end of next month

The council told letsrecycle.com that an assessment of the skips in December identified that a number had safety concerns around their structural integrity, based on the potential weight of the waste they are designed to hold.

A report which went before the council’s cabinet on 15 February says Redcar and Cleveland needed to make the “emergency purchase” of replacements to keep the HWRC open at a busy time.

The council bought the six replacements, described as 30 cubic yard open top skips with horizontally split stable door access, from Midlands-based skip manufacturer Firber Engineering.

The report says there were limited suppliers who could offer skips at “short notice” and at a “reasonable rate”, but value for money remained a key factor of the procurement.

Matt Briggs, operations manager for waste and recycling at Redcar and Cleveland, said in the report: “Continued availability of the Dunsdale Recycling Centre to accept waste from residents is paramount in order to offer recycling options and discourage fly-tipping.

“Without this spend, there is a real risk to the councils’ ability to offer a convenient point of access to residents for their waste seven days per week.”

Alternative options

Redcar and Cleveland uses the skips to transport material from the Dunsdale HWRC to a recycler, a point of disposal, or the Warrenby transfer station for bulking and onward transport.

A view of Redcar’s coastline taken by drone (picture: Shutterstock)

Examples of the material transported include rubble, waste wood, garden waste, general waste, mattresses, and carpet.

Redcar and Cleveland considered restricting access to the Dunsdale HWRC instead of buying replacement skips but rejected the idea due to the volumes of waste produced at the time of year.

It also considered renting or borrowing containers from suppliers or neighbouring councils, but according to the report none were available or could be found.

Currently, there are alternative temporary open skips in use at the site.

However, the report says the longer-term use of the temporary skips is “not practical” as they are chain slung and therefore require a specialist vehicle which Redcar and Cleveland does not own.