After Prime Minister Johnson’s announcement last night (Monday 23 March), Dorset Council has closed all its household recycling centres (HRCs, or ‘the tip’) until further notice in order to comply with the latest central government guidance on staying at home and away from others.
However, your normal kerbside bin collections will continue to take place for the time being. We have already issued information on how we’re planning to ensure this essential service remains in place.
With people staying at home all day during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, household waste levels are expected to increase. We are reminding people that we have limited capacity in our collection vehicles and at our waste transfer stations, and so we need Dorset residents to help.
Right now, there are certain measures everyone can take to reduce pressure on the kerbside collection service and keep people safe: –
- If you have symptoms of coronavirus, make sure you double-bag your waste (especially tissues and cleaning cloths) and store it safely for 72 hours before placing it in your usual black wheelie bin or authorised blue sack
- Do not create excess waste you’d usually need to take to an HRC. This includes gardening (unless you home-compost), large DIY jobs or house clearances. If you do have excess waste, keep it stored safely until the HRCs reopen. Do not hand your rubbish to an unlicensed waste carrier for disposal
- Continue to keep rubbish and recycling separated. Check out our Right Stuff Right Bin webpage
- Try to minimise the amount of waste your household produces. We have advice on our Slim Your Bins webpage
- Create more space in your recycling bin by squashing/flattening plastic, aluminium and cardboard items. You should not however compress rubbish in black bags, your black wheelie bin or authorised blue sack. Please do not squash waste down into your bin after you’ve put it in there as this can prevent it falling out during the emptying process
- Do not put your glass box out for collection until it is full
- Park responsibly. More people staying at home has obviously led to more cars parked on residential streets, creating problems for our drivers who cannot access some roads. Make sure you leave enough room for our larger vehicles to pass and turn safely
- If your collection has been missed, please check our service disruption page on the coronavirus section of the Dorset Council website before reporting. You will find service updates and instructions on what to do with your bins there.
Cllr Tony Alford, Dorset Council’s portfolio holder for Customer, Community and Regulatory Services, said:
“We understand that the closure of our household recycling centres will place pressure on our kerbside services, but we have to follow central government public health measures. Visits to HRCs are not covered in the list of reasons for people to leave their homes.
We want to keep our usual kerbside waste collections going for as long as possible, but we’re anticipating challenges in resourcing this service as the coronavirus situation continues and are prepared to make changes if the system starts to strain. To help avoid this, Dorset residents should recycle correctly, minimise the waste they produce and observe health guidance if they have symptoms of COVID-19. Help us to help you.
I want to thank everyone for playing their part in helping us keep these vital services going and to our front-line workers who are working hard to ensure everyone’s waste continues to be dealt with safely and responsibly.”
Will the garden waste bins still be collected?
For as long as we can, but garden waste is one of the lower priority services we provide so it is subject to suspension if our resources cannot continue to support it – have a read of https://news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/2020/03/20/how-we-will-keep-waste-services-going-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-situation/
Selfish! Garden waste is not a health hazard or priority!
Sorry, we don’t understand – we have stated that garden waste is one of the lowest priority services?
We are a family of 10. I go to the recycling centre once a week as we have to much finish for our bins, what am I supposed to do now? Will the kerbside collections collect bags that won’t fit in my bins?
Sorry to hear that Joanne, but we have had measures in place for years to deal with excess waste at the kerbside for larger families – there is no need to use household recycling centres on a weekly basis for household waste. Please e-mail enquiries@dorsetwastepartnership.gov.uk to explain your situation. Thank you.
It’s been several days since the Government asked councils to reopen HRCs, so why aren’t Dorset tips open? Unbelievable that they are trying to tell us not to garden or do DIY when we are forced to be at home. Do councillors expect us to sit on our thumbs until the lockdown is eased and we are back at work before we can create rubbish? Like every other creature, rats are now looking for nesting sites close to sources of food. Come on Dorset get your act together. If you can restart grass cutting you can reopen tips. You are paid to have foresight and be prepared. Fly tipping was entirely predictable and you (we) now have the additional cost of clearing it up. Thanks for nothing. As usual.
The overwhelming majority of HRCs all over the country remain closed at this time because Stay at Home guidance does not include trips to the tip as essential travel. Councils have asked central government to amend this guidance. The Secretary of State confirmed this was about to happen and to prepare for the reopening of HRCs – when the guidance changes, we’ll re-open the HRCs asap.
I noted with pleasure that Dorset waste centres are opening on the 11th May but then was immediately deflated by reading the restrictions that mean you can’t use unless your waste is harmful or a danger to health to store at home. That just about excludes most waste, so what’s the point? I guess you may be trying to reduce use, to prevent traffic queues etc, but queues are a far better alternative to fly tipping. This is a pretty weak, risk averse, nannyish and narrow minded response to what is a growing problem. Extend opening hours and pay staff overtime!
Kevin – The point is to provide an essential outlet that people can use if they have waste that is presenting a risk of injury, health or harm at home. Travel restrictions are still in place and we make no apologies for being “risk averse” at a time of crisis, when people are being asked to stay at home in order to save lives and protect the NHS, not travel to an HRC for non-essential reasons.
The recycling was not collected last Friday, 20th March. When will it be collected please. It looks as if it was all of Wool BH20 that got missed. When will the next collection be?
If you have reported it to us, you should have received a notification as to when we expect to return to collect, but it’s usually within 5 days. Form at https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/bins-recycling-and-litter/report-a-bin-problem/missed-bin-collection.aspx
Well that’s 5 days and it has still not been collected, any chance of an update.
Will the green garden waste bins still be emptied once a fortnight please?
For as long as we can, but garden waste is one of the lower priority services we provide so it is subject to suspension if our resources cannot continue to support it – have a read of https://news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/2020/03/20/how-we-will-keep-waste-services-going-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-situation/
Recycling/food not collected today, should we leave out, ready for collection.
Please report it via https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/bins-recycling-and-litter/report-a-bin-problem/missed-bin-collection.aspx after 4pm and you’ll be informed by the form what to do next – thank you.
I live in a very small house with no outside space at all. I don’t even have room for a recycling box. I rely on being able to take my rubbish and recycling to the Bridport recycling centre twice a week. I have no idea how I am going to manage in this situation- please can you advise how I can dispose of my rubbish in this situation?
We provide a ‘Bag and Box’ service for those houses that cannot accommodate wheelie bins – this should have been explained to you when the Recycle for Dorset scheme was rolled out back in 2015. Please e-mail enquiries@dorsetwastepartnership.gov.uk to see if there is anything they can do.
No recycling (or anything else ) collected at Tree Hamlets, Upton and no sign of bin men. Two days overdue now. Anyone coming?
I have a suggestion, that though re-cycling may not be a priority, gardening is for many Dorset people a way of keeping fit and health. The tip could so easily be managed by only allowing a certain number of cars in at a time. We can safely wait in our cars with no risk of infection. Our kind tip workers can safely work 2 metres away from each other. Could this not work?
Supermarkets are managing one in one out systems with large numbers of customers. Can this system not be used at recycling centres? Fly tipping will increase exponentially if recycling centres are closed for too long.
We pay for recycling centres within our council tax. Will we get a refund? Many households, myself included, will have to hire a skip at great expense for large quantities of garden waste with everything now starting to grow fast.
Trips to the supermarket are covered in the government’s list of essential travel – trips to the tip are not.
Ridiculous. Refuse disposal is an essential service and I totally agree that you should re open tips and use a one in one out system. Hardly difficult.
Your comment that it is not an essential service beggars belief when you have Highways out surveying the roads this week!
It’s got nothing to do with difficulty. We are following central government advice on what is “essential” or not (read https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do) in order to help tackle the current pandemic.
That same guidance also states that anyone can go to work if they cannot work from home, hence why our Highways workers can go about their business.
But the fact remains that while kerbside collections remain largely unaffected to deal with general refuse and government advice on staying at home is in place, there is no essential reason to travel to the tip.
By closing rubbish tips you will encourage those non thinking idiots to dump their rubbish in country lanes or gateways to fields.
While we accept fly-tipping is likely to increase, we have had no choice to close the tips as travel there is not classed as “essential” by central government. As soon as restrictions are lifted or relaxed, we will reopen the tips asap.
If you, (Bridport Council), are short of workers, let the Bridport residents know and you will probably get volunteers or applications for part time work.
A lot of us are willing and able to help.
You’re doing great work and we appreciate it. Cheers.
Is Bridport recycling centre open yet?
Any ideas when..
Monday 11 May, with restrictions – https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/emergencies-severe-weather/emergencies/coronavirus/changes-to-services/bins-recycling-centres-and-other-waste-services.aspx