Bulky waste discount continues as recycling centre rules remain

The city’s three household waste and recycling centres, at Brunswick, Byker and Walbottle, reopened for essential visits on May 11, with measures in place to maintain social distancing and manage the number of people accessing each site.

Almost a month on demand remains high with visitors, some of whom are reluctant to leave despite queues to get in regularly reaching capacity, waiting more than an hour to dispose of their rubbish.

To encourage people not to visit, and ensure that those who do can do so as quickly as possible, the authority is, for another 30 days, continuing to manage traffic around sites, extending a 25 percent reduction in the cost of bulky waste pick-ups, and leaving the suspension of permits for larger and commercial-type vehicles in place.

'If possible use our other collections'

Cllr Nick Kemp, cabinet member for environment and regulatory services, said: “We know many residents want to return to a sense of normality as soon as possible, but in order to keep both staff and the public safe we need to keep restrictions in place for another month and ask that you only visit if it’s absolutely essential.

“As they have done throughout the pandemic all our bin collections continue, as do our garden and bulky waste services, so if you can use them you should.

“If at all possible store excess rubbish and recycling at home and look to our paid for bulky waste service – which we are continuing to offer at a reduced rate - rather than visiting a ‘tip’.

“If you absolutely must visit, then please follow the new rules, be respectful of our staff, follow their instructions, and if the queue to get in is at capacity, do come back at a later time.”

New recycling centre rules continue

Rules for visiting Newcastle’s HWRCs, including ID, vehicle occupancy and time limit requirements, can be found on our Coronavirus: Household Waste and Recycling Centres page.

Lengthy queues to get into both Byker and Walbottle recycling centres continue, with drivers urged to consider visiting our Brunswick site instead, as it may take less time overall.

Bin it right

Householders are also reminded to “bin it right,” with recycling contamination an ongoing issue, particularly since Government lockdown measures began.

Details of how to properly dispose of a range of items can be found on our Recycling A to Z page.

Recycle Your Electricals

That includes waste electrical items, which a new campaign is urging Newcastle residents not to bin, but to store until such a time as they can be recycled properly at one of our HWRCs.

The Recycle Your Electricals campaign, run by non-profit organisation Material Change, and its pink, furry mascot Hypnocat, will be urging radio listeners and social media users not to bin items that could contain recyclable materials, including metals like gold, aluminium and steel.

The campaign also comes at a time when there have been several reported fires at recycling plants across the UK, it’s believed, as a result of people failing to properly dispose of batteries - particularly lithium ion ones that are often found in electricals.

You should not place batteries in your green or blue bins.

Please dispose of them through a local battery disposal point, at either a HWRC or possibly major retailers and supermarkets.