Concerns over recycling sites' closures and queues

People have voiced concerns about long queues and some closures at waste recycling sites across parts of a county.

From the beginning of April, all six of West Northamptonshire Council's centres were supposed to open seven days a week to make it "easier than ever for people to dispose of their waste responsibly".

However, residents told BBC Radio Northampton at the weekend they had been turned away as the bins at one site were full, while another said she drove to three different sites and all were closed.

In a statement, the council said "temporary closures occur when queues impact nearby roads, a standard practice to ensure traffic flows safely" and that it appreciated people's patience.

It said: "We acknowledge the recent concerns about the waste disposal sites across West Northants.

"As of 1 April, FCC has been re-awarded the contract, and the sites are now open seven days a week with extended operational hours of 42 hours per week.

"This change aims to better distribute visitor numbers and reduce peak-time congestion."

It added: "We appreciate the community's patience and understanding during this busy time of year and remain committed to providing the best possible service."

Meanwhile FCC Environment, which manages the sites, said it had seen a "steep rise in the number of people visiting our household waste recycling centres" over the past month.

It said queuing traffic was a danger to other road users and it "made the difficult decision to temporarily close four of the sites we operate".

"To help alleviate these pressures we are bringing in extra resources to deal with the increase in waste volumes we are seeing, and to ensure that our sites continue to operate safely for the general public and our staff."

Dan Cooke, from the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, said recycling centres were typically busy during school holidays and on bank holidays.

"It sounds like a classic combination. There's a new contract in place and therefore they're trying to bed-in the new ways of working," he said.

"It's one of the busiest times of the year and it sounds like an unfortunate combination of that."

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