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.”