How to use your re3 recycling centre resident's permit

With less than a week left until re3 recycling centres introduce new visitor access requirements on 1 July, residents are being reminded to use the vinyl permits that have now been posted to households in the Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham Borough Council areas.

Top tips on how to use your permit:

• The permit is made from vinyl and is not a sticker. The round part of the design peels away from the backing paper and adheres to your car's windscreen
• The permit does not need to be permanently displayed on your windscreen, but has been designed to be easily visible when used for recycling centre visits. By displaying your permit, recycling centre staff will not need to ask for alternative identification, which can help in cutting down queuing times
• If you do not wish to have your permit permanently displayed, or want to use it between more than one car in your household, then please replace it on to the backing paper when not in use and store it somewhere safe, like your glove compartment, or somewhere accessible, like stuck to your fridge door with a magnet. We have had some excellent ideas from residents - like storing the permit in a CD case or in a plastic wallet and then placing it somewhere easily visible on your dashboard before your recycling centre visit
• To help keep down costs and ensure fairness, it is only one permit per household. The permits are vinyl rather than stickers so that they can be shared between cars in the same household
• re3 recycling centre permits are for re3 area – Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham – residents only. If you share your permit with someone from outside of the re3 area, you, and other re3 area council tax payers, are paying for them to dispose of their waste free of charge. By limiting access to re3 area residents, our aim is to achieve £834,000 in savings that could be used to support frontline council services in re3 area communities
• If you are a re3 area resident and forget your permit, we will accept alternative forms of ID like a photo-card driving licence and a named, proof of address letter like a council tax bill. We will not accept the letter sent with the permit as proof of address as it does not include your name and we would not be able confirm your identity as a re3 resident
• The letter accompanying your permit includes your unique reference number. To help you to remember it, we recommend that you write it on your permit using a biro or similar pen. You can still use the permit on recycling centre visits without having written your unique reference number on it, but in that case, please keep your letter somewhere safe. The reference number helps us to ascertain that you are a re3 area resident should you have any issues with your permit or you would like to apply for a commercial vehicle permit from September 2016 onwards
• Every effort has been made to ensure that every household in the re3 area has been sent a permit. However, if you haven’t received your permit in the post, re3 area residents can apply for a new one by filling out a quick and easy form on their Council website. We will send out a replacement – or a new permit for residents who have moved into the area – as quickly as possible, and we will accept alternative forms of ID at the recycling centres for any re3 area residents awaiting a permit
• To help us adhere to data protection guidelines, permits were sent out addressed to ‘the resident’. If you have not received your permit, please check your recycling in case it was mixed in with junk mail. The permits were sent in an envelope marked with the re3 logo

Wokingham Borough Council’s executive member for environment Cllr Angus Ross said: "Considerable effort has gone into communicating the recycling centre changes to residents, and we are pleased that residents are already using their permits when visiting the Bracknell and Reading sites.

"Our recycling centres are well-used and valued facilities. By using the permits, we can easily identify when visitors are re3 area residents, and that can help us to minimise queuing times."

Bracknell Forest’s executive member for environment and chairman of the Joint Waste Disposal Board, Cllr Mrs Dorothy Hayes MBE said: "Despite the West Berkshire joint agreement ending at short notice, we've introduced a cost-effective way of ensuring our residents within the re3 recycling area are able to continue using the centre at no extra cost, protecting this valued service. More information on the changes can be found on the re3 website."

Reading Borough Council’s lead councillor for neighbourhoods, Cllr Liz Terry said: “Although the changes come in on 1st July, we are already seeing residents using the windscreen permits on their cars and we would like to thank them for their co-operation and understanding. The important thing to remember is that by making this and other changes to the re3 recycling centres, we can provide a more efficient, cost-effective waste management service for Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham."

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