Published on Thursday 04 March 2021
Residents are temporarily being urged to reconsider visiting Recycling Centres across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole due to a high number of people visiting the sites during lockdown. Queuing vehicles are blocking roads around the sites, impacting access to local businesses.
Councillor Mark Anderson, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Cleansing and Waste commented:
"In line with government guidance, our three Recycling Centres have stayed open to allow residents to make essential visits to get rid of the waste that can’t be stored safely. Recently we have been receiving exceptionally high numbers of visitors, up to 65% higher than the same period last year and we’re putting in additional resources to manage this. We would however remind people that the message is to stay at home as we are still in lockdown, so we are urging people to consider whether they really need to make this trip at this time."
All three Recycling Centres are working to reduced capacity with extra safety measures in place which has placed extra demands on the service. To manage this, additional officers are on site helping to manage queues, answer questions and advise people to return at a different time if necessary.
Councillor Anderson continued: "We realise that people have been spring cleaning their homes and gardens with the nicer weather and now want to get rid of the waste. We’re appealing to our residents that if they do have to visit our Recycling Centres, check our website prior to visiting to read about the safety measures that are in place and please be nice to all our staff as they’re working in extremely difficult conditions, trying to keep everyone safe on site."
For more information on visiting the council’s Recycling Centres and the safety measures that are in place, please visit the Recycling Centre webpage.