Highland Council recycling centres extend opening hours and add to materials accepted; Longer opening hours for recycling in Alness, Tain and Dingwall
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Highland Council is ready to accept more materials at its recycling centres as part of its phased reopening in line with coronavirus restrictions.
And the opening hours at a number of its sites will also be expanded.
Wood and scrap metal have now been added to the range of items that are accepted at the majority of facilities.
Items now accepted at most centres include bagged household waste, garden waste, electrical appliances, cardboard, wood and scrap metal.
A number of smaller waste recycling centres are still unable to accept all these items and householders are advised to check Highland Council’s website www.highland.gov.uk/recyclingcentres to check acceptable materials and opening hours.
Some centres will see their opening hours extended. Alness, Dingwall and Tain opening hours are changing to 10am to 5pm (closed for lunch between 1pm and 1.30pm), Monday – Friday.
At the moment, cars and small non-commercial 4 x 4 vehicles only are permitted entry to the sites, enabling as many people as possible to pass through and to help to ensure they continue to operate smoothly and safely for both site users and staff.
Vans and trailers are not permitted at this stage.
Councillor Allan Henderson, chair of the Highland Council’s places and communities committee said: “I am pleased we are continuing to make steady progress with the waste recycling centres for householders and by introducing more materials that can be accepted for recycling and extending the opening hours this is another step towards the ‘new normal’. Our larger sites remain busy and are safely handling hundreds of visitors per day with limited queuing. By accepting a wider range of materials, it is likely that site users will be on site for longer and therefore we may see queues forming at the site entrances as we continue to maintain social distancing for the public and site Operatives. To reduce the time spent on the site, householders are urged to separate their items before they go.”
All HWRC across Scotland were closed in March due to the Scottish Governments Covid-19 restrictions on non–essential travel. The safe re-opening of many of the sites in Highland since June 1 has been achieved by limiting the number of users on sites whilst enabling control of social distancing.
Cllr Henderson added: “Preparation work is well under way to enable vans and trailers to use the facilities in due course whilst adhering to social distancing. To help manage demand and to avoid lengthy queues an online booking system is being developed for our larger sites whereby vans and trailer owners will be able to book a slot to use the facilities. Information about how the booking system will work will be provided in the coming weeks.”
To help reduce the risk of spreading Coronavirus site staff will be adopting robust hygiene standards. Householders should wash their hands before and after visiting a HWRC. Please also observe social distancing and stay 2 metres apart from staff and other site users when at a HWRC. Householders are reminded not to visit the site if they are showing symptoms of Coronavirus.
Strictly no commercial waste or recycling will be accepted at HWRC.
For more information please visit: www.highland.gov.uk/recyclingcentres
