More and more local authorities are announcing plans to close household waste and recycling centres, or limit their opening hours, as they strive to achieve savings on their environmental services budgets in light of major funding cuts from central government.
This appears to be picking up pace in the wake of the announcement of the Local Government Settlement this week (see letsrecycle.com story), with local authorities assessing areas of potential savings.
For example, Hertfordshire and Staffordshire county councils have both decided to undertake comprehensive reviews of their household waste and recycling centre networks – with a view to potentially closing sites.
In Hertfordshire, the county council endorsed an investigation into its existing HWRC network and already a recommendation for the closure of the Wiggenhall Road site in Watford has been tabled.
The review of existing sites is intended to help Hertfordshire ascertain whether limiting opening hours could potentially reduce costs, which could come into effect in April 2011. And, by July 2011, the county council wants its waste management panel to develop a plan setting out how it can achieve a “better quality, better located” network of sites.
All of this is intended to feed into helping the county council achieve 25% cost reductions that can be incorporated into the procurement of new recycling centre contracts by October 2014.
Derrick Ashley, executive member for waste at Hertfordshire county council, said: “We are committed to providing adequate disposal facilities for household waste as well as directing our resources towards increasing recycling.
“However, in light of the current financial situation and improved kerbside recycling and other local facilities, changes to our recycling centres cannot be ruled out”.
Review
Meanwhile, Staffordshire county council has since begun a full-scale appraisal of its 14 centres, with a view to keeping all sites operational, after relenting to public pressure over the proposed closure of the Burntwood HWRC in Cannock Chase.
Councillor Robbie Marshall, cabinet member for regeneration and infrastructure, said: “We have looked to identify greater efficiencies and adopt innovative ways of running the operation. The county council is now adopting a more efficient structure, and after initial discussions with our contractors we now believe we can achieve savings of at least £150,000 per annum while protecting the front-line.
“In the current financial climate it is right that we should constantly look to provide services in the most efficient and economic way.”
Thurrock
The move comes less than a year after the £1.9 million site was completed with help from regional development agency Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation – which stumped up £1 million of the construction costs (see letsrecycle.com story).
The council, which is seeking £15 million savings from its overall budget, is hoping to absorb the extra materials through its kerbside recycling collections and its existing reuse and recycling centre at Linford – which is 10 miles from the St Clements Way site.
Councillor Val Morris-Cook, cabinet member for environment at Thurrock, said: “We are having to make some very difficult decisions at the moment. The public's use of the recycling centre has been very limited making this an extremely under used council service.”
Backlash
It is taking nine sites down to five but it is not just chopping them off but looking at the potential of actually bringing a couple of new sites on line
Spokesman, Oxfordshire Waste Partnership
Elsewhere, Lancashire county council has claimed that operation of its 22-strong HWRC network costs the council £8.5 million-a-year and has, therefore, decided to close its Padiham site – along with a further three sites. The council claims this move could net it an annual saving of around £1 million without, the council claims, impacting on its recycling performance.
And, while not all local authorities or waste bodies have definitively earmarked sites for closure, it is not far from the radar of most organisations.
For example, a spokesman for the Oxfordshire Waste Partnership – which represents the county council and corresponding district councils – told letsrecycle.com that Oxfordshire county council would be considering a recommendation from officers to rationalise the number of sites, with a view to bringing a couple of “more central” sites into existence.
He said: “It is, at the moment, a proposal. It is taking nine sites down to five but it is not just chopping them off but looking at the potential of actually bringing a couple of new sites on line and phasing the others out over a number of years.”
“Educated”
Clive Harris, waste policy advisor at the Local Government Association (LGA), told letsrecycle.com said it was up to councils to make “educated decisions” about what provisions to safeguard.
He said: “Everyone is having to make tough savings and clearly some services are going to be affected as we go forward and there are some councils that do different things and cut their cloth in different ways.”
Mr Harris said that surveys of residents had indicated a willingness on the part of some to pay for the use of household waste and recycling centres – even though the provision of the service is meant to be free under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
He said: “The legislation would need to change to be able to charge for use but I think there are surveys about people being welcome to paying a little charge for using the HWRCs and I think there are surveys that show that people would be willing to pay a little more for such collections.”
Subscribe for free