Waste sites to re-open tomorrow - but it's bookings only

Denbighshire County Council has announced that its household waste recycling centres will re-open tomorrow, Thursday May 28. with a bookings only system for people to dispose of essential household waste.

It says demand at the recycling centres at Lon Parcwr (Ruthin), Colomendy Industrial Estate (Denbigh) and Marsh Road (Rhyl)  will be very high, therefore it has introduced a booking in system, to keep queuing traffic at a reasonable level and in order to comply with social distancing measures.  

People can book a slot online: www.denbighshire.gov.uk/recycling or if people are having difficulty, they should contact the Council. The system is live now.

Drivers will need to bring their booking reference number and proof of residency.  Anyone turning up without an appointment will not be allowed on site.

The “pop-up” Household Waste Recycling Centres services in Corwen and Llangollen are still suspended until further notice.   

This is because the council says it is not able to ensure that social distancing would be maintained, and it is therefore not safe to open these.

The council is advising visitors to the recycling centres of the following:

• People must not visit the Recycling Centre if they or anyone they are living with is in self-isolation or showing COVID-19 symptoms.
• No twin axle trailers will be allowed entry (Car-derived vans/4x4s and single axle trailers will be able to enter).  People may only bring their household waste in a works vehicle if they already have a permit to do so.The Council are processing requests for new permits as usual.  Please do not make a booking until you have a valid permit.
• Please segregate waste before coming to site to speed up the visit.
• The number of vehicles on-site will be restricted and where possible vehicles should only include the driver as only one person will be allowed to unload their vehicles. People must remain in their car whilst queuing.
• Social distancing measures must be adhered to at all times by both staff and visitors.
• Black bag waste should only contain non-recyclable waste.  DCC 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 bag waste that contains food and recyclables.
• The sites will be very busy and you should expect to queue to access the site. The booking system will reduce waiting times but you should still expect queues.  At our two smaller sites in Denbigh and Ruthin, waiting time will increase by approximately 20 further minutes if the skips become full and need emptying as no site users are allowed on the site during this operation.
• A new traffic management system will be in place but if the queues spill out onto a busy road  and cause a hazard, people may be asked to move on.  The Council has done what it can to mitigate this with the booking in system, but it is reliant on the public to adhere to the 20 minute slots and not turn up without prior booking.
• Please treat our staff and fellow customers with respect and consideration during this challenging period.  Any incident/abuse of site staff or other users will not be tolerated, will result in you not being able to book in to visit again and may involve police intervention.

The opening hours for the sites will be:

Ruthin : Monday – Thursday 10am-6pm; Closed Friday; Sat & Sun 9am – 5pm

Denbigh: Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri – 10am – 6pm; Closed Thursday; Sat & Sun 9am – 5pm

Rhyl : Monday – Sunday 10am – 6pm

Councillor Brian Jones, Cabinet Lead Member for Waste, Transport and the Environment, said: “Our teams have been working hard during these unprecedented times to keep as many of our services as possible operating, including recycling, food and waste collections. 

“We recognise that the closure of the recycling centres will have caused disruption and we thank residents for their patience and understanding.  We were following the national guidelines which did not consider journeys to the recycling centres as a reasonable excuse to leave home, so we took the decision to close the sites.  That position has now changed and we have been involved in discussions nationally to re-open the sites as quickly as possible.

“We are expecting a very high demand for use of the sites and it has been decided to use a booking system to reduce traffic congestion and to protect the safety of people using the site or working there.  The position will be under constant review and we will advise residents if anything changes.

“What we would ask is for people to follow the rules and we can work together to try and reintroduce the service as smoothly as possible."