Highbridge Household Waste Recycling Centre was opened this week by environment minister Elliot Morley. Situated on the Isleport Business Centre, it provides local residents with a wide range of facilities to recycle the majority of their household waste from cardboard to washing machines.
The site is the part of the Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP), a joint venture between Somerset County Council, Sedgemoor District Council and Highbridge Town Council. It will be open every day of the year, except Christmas and New Year's Day.
The facility is part of Somerset's overall strategy to provide local residents with a household waste recycling centre within five miles of built up areas, something the Highbridge and Burnham areas had previously lacked.
It will be operated by Wyvern Waste Services Ltd, which manages the county's 17 other sites.
Speaking at the opening, councillor Jim Mochnacz said: “The top household waste recycling centres are recycling over 70% – with the support and commitment of local householders, Highbridge can match this figure and be one of the best in the country.”
The SWP partnership dealt with 288,000 tonnes of household waste during 2002-3, of which nearly 30 per cent was recycled. The 18 recycling centres in the county have a target of 55 per cent in 2003-4, and initial figures indicate that this figure has already been surpassed.
The partnership has a statutory household waste recycling target of 40 per cent by 2005-6.
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