Another upgrade for household recycling centre

Hempsted household recycling centre (HRC) near Gloucester will close from 3 December to 21 December for the upgrade. Currently, fixed compactor skips are used to squash and compress waste before it is transported for recycling, or disposal. This system is now old and becoming unreliable, and this can cause delays to residents visiting the site as well as making maintenance costly.

To solve this, and help the busy site run more smoothly for visitors, Gloucestershire County Council is bringing in a mobile compactor. Earlier this year Pyke Quarry HRC received this upgrade and the council has invested more than £500,000 to modernise the two sites.

Mobile compactors are heavy plant vehicles with hydraulic attachments that can squash the waste in the skips more tightly leaving fewer gaps and making the best use of space. If a skip becomes full a mobile compactor can easily move waste to other empty bins. Hempsted is a very busy site, and these improvements will help make it quicker and easier to recycle household waste in future.

To make the switch to the new machines the existing fixed compactors will be removed and new open top skips will be provided.

During the closure staff will have a chance to familiarise themselves with the new mobile waste compaction machine. New and improved signs will be installed so visitors know which materials go where.

The Hempsted site is planned to re-open on Saturday 22 December with winter opening hours, 10am and 4pm.

During this time residents are asked to take their bulky household waste and recycling to their closest alternative centre:

• Pyke Quarry HRC near Stroud (Closed on Wednesdays)
• Oak Quarry HRC near Coleford (Closed on Tuesdays)
• Wingmoor Farm HRC in Stoke Orchard (Closed on Wednesdays)

However residents may prefer to plan their visit before or after the closure dates to avoid potential queues at other sites.

For a full list of household recycling centres in Gloucestershire here 

Cllr Nigel Moor, cabinet member for environment & planning, said, “We upgraded Hempsted significantly last year, and the new equipment will give the site a more modern and flexible system. Squashing what’s in the skips will not only save money in maintenance costs, but it’ll be more efficient and reliable too.

“I’d like to thank local people for their patience while Hempsted temporarily closes for the improvement work.”

Cllr Pam Tracey MBE, local county councillor for Hempsted, said: “This is a fantastic investment for our local household recycling centre. I know the temporary closure isn’t ideal but new kit to speed up the service will be welcomed. Please remember there are different opening hours going into the winter too.”

All sites are now open six days a week between 10am-4pm (winter, excluding Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day) and 9am-5.00pm (summer). Find out the new opening hours and more information online at www.recycleforgloucestershire.com