On Bank Holiday Monday the following Household Waste Recycling Centres will be OPEN:
| Princes Drive | Leamington |
| Hunters Lane | Rugby |
| Judkins | Tuttle Hill Nuneaton |
| Burton Farm | A46/Bishopton-Stratford. |
The following sites will be CLOSED:
| Cherry Orchard | Pipers Lane Kenilworth |
| Grendon | Spon Lane Grendon |
| Wellesbourne | Loxley Road Wellesbourne |
| Shipston | Brailes Road Shipston |
| Stockton | Rugby Road Southam |
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The twelfth annual international Compost Awareness Week (CAW) will be held from Sunday 6th to Saturday 12th May 2012. The Warwickshire Waste Partnership is encouraging residents to “Give Back to the Earth” in line with this year’s theme to promote the making and use of compost at home.
During the week, the partnership plans to stage a series of compost sales around the county and promote the benefits of composting.
Green waste collected from households is delivered to large scale composting facilities, which, once composted down, results in a nutrient rich soil improver ideal for enriching flower and vegetable borders or using as part of a potting mix.
Warwick District Council and SITA UK are offering bags of locally produced compost, made from the County’s green bin collections, for just £2.50 per 20kg bag. The offer is for Warwick District residents who visit SITA’s depot at 10 Blick Road, Heathcote Industrial Estate, Warwick, CV34 6TA between 9am and 12noon from Tuesday 8th May – Saturday 12th May to make a cash purchase.
40 litre bags of compost will also be on sale at the following re-use shops at Warwickshire’s Household Waste Recycling Centres;
Age UK at Hunters Lane Recycling Centre in Rugby – £2.99 per bag or 10 bags for £25.
Cllr Alan Cockburn, Chair of the Warwickshire waste Partnership, said: “Most people do not realise that up to 30 per cent of their household bin is made up of organic waste which can be turned into compost. Composting is an inexpensive, natural process that transforms your kitchen and garden waste into a valuable and nutrient rich food for your garden. It is both easy to make and use. Home compost can improve soil structure, maintain moisture levels and help to keep your soil’s PH balance in check while helping to suppress plant disease.”
UK households in England throw away around 4 million tonnes of waste every year that could have been composted. Home composting not only helps to significantly reduce carbon emissions, it can also be used as an effective and sustainable waste management method to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.
For those interested in home composting, now is the perfect time to get started. Through the Warwickshire Waste Partnership, householders can purchase home compost bins for as little as £16 for the 220 litre capacity and £19 for the larger 330 litre bin.
For further information about these products, please call 0844 571 4444. Alternatively, you can also order your home composters and composting accessories online, just visit www.getcomposting.com
Warwickshire householders are being offered environmentally-friendly and responsible solutions to dispose of surplus and unwanted paint as the DIY and spring cleaning season gathers pace.
County council waste chiefs are keen to remind residents that paint is classed as chemical waste, and there is a ban on liquid waste to landfill. While all nine of the county’s Household Waste Recycling Centres can accept empty tins for disposal, the only site licensed to accept liquid waste paint is Princes Drive Recycling Centre in Leamington Spa.
Outlets for useable surplus paint could be friends, neighbours or local online reuse networks such as Freegle, Freecycle and CommunityFreebay.
Cllr Alan Cockburn, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Communities said: “The average home holds around 10 tins of paint at any one time. Amid ever-tightening purse strings, it makes more sense than ever to estimate how much paint you need before stocking up for a decorating project.”
Warwickshire County Council is currently working with Warwickshire Community Recycling and the national Community RePaint programme to pilot a paint re-use scheme at one of the county’s recycling centre this summer.
Cllr Cockburn added: “With the county council now paying £86 per tonne for waste to landfill, we all need to be innovative with how we reduce, reuse and recycle materials going into the waste stream.”
The timetable for Bank Holiday opening and closing at Warwickshire County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres is as follows:
The Bank Holidays for this Year are:
| Good Friday | 6th April |
| Easter Monday | 9th April |
| May Day | 7th May |
| Spring Bank | 4th June |
| Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee | 5th June |
| August (Late Summer) | 27th August |
Upon all the above dates, the following Household Waste Recycling Centres will be CLOSED:
| Cherry Orchard | Pipers Lane Kenilworth |
| Grendon | Spon Lane Grendon |
| Wellesbourne | Loxley Road Wellesbourne |
| Shipston | Brailes Road Shipston |
| Stockton | Rugby Road Southam |
However, the following Household Waste Recycling Centres will be OPEN:
| Princes Drive | Leamington |
| Hunters Lane | Rugby |
| Judkins | Tuttle Hill Nuneaton |
| Burton Farm | A46/Bishopton-Stratford. |
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Two of Warwickshire County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres are the first sites in Britain to be taken over by the voluntary sector.
Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action (CAVA) and the Heart of England Community Foundation have created ‘Warwickshire Community Recycling’ as a joint charitable enterprise which took over the management of Stockton and Wellesbourne recycling centres from the county council on April 1.
The transfer of the sites to the voluntary sector means that the community will help run them and enable seven day opening to continue at the county’s eight busiest centres.
Stockton, near Southam, is a part-time site and will remain open on weekends while Wellesbourne will remain open every day. Warwickshire Community Recycling will also run re-use shops at three other sites – Shipston, Lower House Farm – the North Warwickshire replacement for Grendon due to open in early 2013 – and Cherry Orchard in Kenilworth.
The voluntary sector will provide the staff to operate the on-site shops, assist members of the public and ensure recycling is sorted. Warwickshire Community Recycling will receive the recycling income to cover the costs of operating the sites with surpluses being donated to local charities through the Heart of England Community Foundation.
Cllr Alan Cockburn, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Communities and Chair of the Warwickshire Waste Partnership, said: “We are proud to announce a landmark partnership with CAVA and look forward to working with the voluntary sector to deliver this service.
“This is the first scheme of its kind in the country and it means that we can make financial savings but keep open all our existing recycling centres and maintain a seven-day a week service at the eight busiest sites.
“Warwickshire’s household waste recycling centres continue to divert vast amounts of waste from landfill and we are very excited about working with the third sector to continue to deliver such a valuable service to our residents.”
More than 1.5 million visitors brought over 62,500 tonnes of waste to Warwickshire’s household waste recycling centres last year. Wellesbourne received 47,000 visitors last year and Stockton 25,000.
Paul Tolley, Chief Executive of Warwickshire Community And Voluntary Action, said: “What is so exciting about this new model of working is that it will not only save money for the taxpayer and increase recycling rates but also create funds for voluntary and community groups at a time when funding is so sparse.”
Kate Mulkern from the Heart of England Community Foundation added: “This project will ultimately generate thousands of pounds which we will distribute to grassroots Warwickshire community groups. It’s a perfect example of local charities working together for the benefit of all.”
The review of Household Waste Recycling Centres was initiated after budget reductions required an £800,000 saving in the next financial year to cover all nine sites and the disposal of green waste and recycling that comes from them.
Under the new arrangements, the county council maintains overall control of all the sites, including provision of technical and management support. The sites at Grendon in North Warwickshire, Hunters Lane in Rugby, Cherry Orchard, Princes Drive in Leamington, Burton Farm in Stratford and Shipston are all operated directly by Warwickshire County Council with weekday opening reduced to six hours a day. Nuneaton will have a new facility, due to open in 2015, which will be operated by the private sector.
Warwickshire’s Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) have had many weird and wonderful items brought in by the public for recycling – including some explosive discoveries!
The latest example yesterday afternoon (Sunday) saw a hand grenade uncovered by staff in a skip at Judkins HWRC in Nuneaton.
The site was closed off to the public immediately after the alarm was raised as emergency procedures were activated. Police were called and bomb disposal experts arrived on scene and made the weapon safe and removed it from the site.
Judkins HWRC opened as normal again this morning (Monday). Following the grenade discovery, the county council has compiled a list of the top ten of strangest items brought to Warwickshire’s HWRCs, which include a live duck and a 50ft-long boat which the owner was looking to break up and recycle.
Here is the list in full:
10. Cannabis plants recycled in green waste
9. A dead lamb
8. Live ammunition
7. Pair of inflatable dolls
6. Set of risque ‘home photos’
5. A kitten (found alive)
4. Suitcase full of marital aids
3. A duck was (found quacking in green waste and rescued by RSPCA)
2. Hand grenade
1. 50ft-long boat
Cllr Alan Cockburn, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Communities, said: “I must express thanks to the staff who handled the latest incident very calmly and professionally, and to visitors to the Judkins site who remained patient while it was closed so the explosive could be made safe and there was no further danger to the public.
“We always welcome items of household waste to our recycling centres and the many weird and wonderful items we receive from the public never ceases to amaze us. As usual, it is down to the diligence of our staff who do their utmost to make sure that the items ultimately go to the most appropriate destination.
“Our Household Waste Recycling Centres continue to be very successful and last year our sites across the county received a total of 1.5 million visits and 62,500 tonnes of waste.”
Warwickshire County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres are at Grendon, Judkins, Shipston, Hunters Lane, Cherry Orchard, Princes Drive, Stockton, Burton Farm and Wellesbourne.