Flintshire Council issues guidance for those planning to use recycling centres when they open later this month

Flintshire council has issued safety guidance for those planning to use any of the five Household Recycling Centres which will reopen to the public on Tuesday 26 May.

Like all councils across Wales, Flintshire Council closed it’s household waste and recycling centres when strict lockdown measures were introduced in March in a bid stop the spread of coronavirus.

Earlier this month councils were given the green light to start planning how to safely reopen recycling centres following a ‘modest’ adjustment to lockdown measures in Wales.

The council has said, “To help manage demand, for the first two weeks, the tips will be from 9.00 a.m. until 8.00 pm.

We are working hard to keep Flintshire as clean and safe as possible during the ‘lockdown’ period. We have been collecting recycling, food and rubbish but do recognise that many residents’ will have some excess recycling and waste to dispose of.”

Before visiting a site we would ask you to please think carefully about your trip and whether you need to make it.

The demand at our centres will be high in the first week of opening. For the safety of the public and our employee’s special measures to control the centres have been introduced.”

Site Safety Measures

• You must not visit the Household Recycling Centre if you or anyone you are living with is in self-isolation or showing COVID-19 symptoms.
• We will only accept small amounts of waste. No high sided vans or trailers will be allowed entry (smaller car-derived vans/4x4s will be able to enter). Please separate your waste before coming to site to speed up your visit.
• You should only visit the Household Recycling Centre if it is essential. Under the current guidelines, you should only make this journey if your waste is causing a hazard to health and cannot be stored safely at home.
• The number of vehicles on-site at any one time will be restricted. Where possible only the driver should make the journey, unaccompanied.
• You will need to wait at the site entrance until the on-site team allow you in. You MUST remain in your car whilst queuing. Only a limited number of vehicles will be allowed on site at any time and we will be operating a one-in, one-out system. Only one person will be permitted to be outside of their vehicle.
• Social distancing measures must be followed at all times by both employees and visitors. All site users must keep a 2 metre distance from others at all times.
• Black bag waste should only contain non-recyclable waste. We are collecting food, cans, plastics, paper, card and glass at the kerbside so residents should use these collections for these materials. We will not accept black bags that contain food and/or recyclables.
• Only bring what you can safely carry/handle yourself. Due to the two metre self-distancing regulations no assistance can be given to offload materials. If you have bulky items to dispose of, please either wait until we are able to accept these items (more information to follow soon) or until Government social distancing rules are relaxed.A new traffic management system will be in place and queuing outside of the sites may be restricted. If the queues spill out onto the public highway and cause a risk, the police may move people on.
• Please treat our teams, and fellow customers with respect and consideration. Any abuse, or a failure to follow these site safety measures, will not be tolerated. If necessary there will be a police intervention.