Councils have been asked to make reopening household waste recycling sites a priority by the Government.
Speaking yesterday, local government secretary Robert Jenrick said: ‘We know that with more people at home more rubbish and recycling is being created. With many councils deciding to close their waste and recycling centres during the pandemic, there is also nowhere to take the extra rubbish.
’That is why we are asking councils to reopen these sites as a priority and we will be publishing guidance shortly to support them to do that in line with social distancing guidelines.’
A spokesperson for the County Councils Network said: ‘Councils would like to have kept recycling centres open during this period. However, government guidance was clear that a journey to household waste recycling centre was not considered essential travel, so councils rightly prioritised maintaining essential kerbside collections which the public rely on.
‘The government has now indicated that they want councils to re-open their centres and local authorities have already begun preparations to do just that in the coming weeks. This will not be without its challenges – requiring social distancing measures, traffic management and co-ordination across the country.’
