Cambridgeshire: Recycling Centres To Close?

8 April 2014, 06:25 | Updated: 8 April 2014, 06:33

With Cambridgeshire one of the highest recyclers in the county, the Council is looking at how best to deliver its household recycling service in the future.

The Cabinet at Cambridgeshire County Council will hear, next Tuesday (15 April) that this review will involve the proposed reshaping of the service, alongside delivering annual savings of £440,000 from April 2015.

The review will look at options such as potentially accepting trade wastes at a cost; service management by third sector businesses and changing opening hours, before examining any potential need to close household recycling centre sites.

Councillor Mathew Shuter, Cabinet Member for Enterprise and Waste at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: "We have some fantastic Household Recycling Centres in Cambridgeshire such as Witchford and St Neots which make recycling not just an efficient process but a pleasant one too. It is facilities such as these which have helped the county to rank so highly in the national leagues. Our challenge is to look at our other centres in Cambridgeshire to deliver a better and most cost effective service, even if this means we have fewer sites in the future."

"We also know that the county is projected to continue to expand in the next 20 years by more than 70,000 homes. This is why it is essential we work closely with Districts, City and other key stakeholders to plan now for the future to ensure that we have considered the needs of our current and future residents. We will be learning from experience of neighbouring and further afield authorities who have already gone through a similar exercise. It is very important that however the service reshapes we consider the implications across the whole of Cambridgeshire whilst getting the best value for our residents."

Should the review be approved by Cabinet the strategy, which covers a five year period, will trigger initial options work with savings to be delivered by April 2015.

Household Recycling Centres are currently in Alconbury, Bluntisham, March, Milton, St Neots, Thriplow, Wisbech, Witchford and Whittlesey.