re3’s refreshed Waste Acceptance Policy is now available on the re3 website. It includes essential information on changes at the Bracknell and Reading recycling centres; the recently introduced visitor permit scheme and the upcoming introduction of commercial vehicle permits and charges for non-household waste.
Waste Acceptance Policy
The Waste Acceptance Policy (PDF document) outlines what re3 area residents can bring to the Bracknell and Reading recycling centres, and in what type of vehicle.
Residents who visit the centres in a commercial or commercial-type vehicle will, from 30 September, have to apply for a free permit every time they want to dispose of their household waste at re3's facilities. Permits for commercial or commercial-type vehicles are being introduced to help stop unscrupulous firms leaving their trade waste for free at the recycling centres.
The Waste Acceptance Policy also provides the criteria, and a full price list, for non-household waste charging. Councils are entitled to charge for the disposal of these types of waste and, in order to produce much-needed savings, re3 has taken the decision to do so. Rubble, soil, plasterboard, asbestos and gas bottles will now incur a charge. However, residents can still dispose of all other household waste free of charge at the recycling centres.
Also featured in the Waste Acceptance Policy is useful information on the visitor permit scheme and recycling centre opening hours, which continue to be seven days a week, from 8am to 8pm during the summer months and 8am to 6pm from October to March.
Wokingham Borough Council's executive member for environment Cllr Angus Ross said: "We are joining other councils nationwide in making changes to our recycling centres in order to make important savings. We have thought long and hard about what our changes should be, and have identified trade and non-household waste – which we are not legally obliged to process – as two ways by which we can effectively cuts costs while maintaining high standards of service.
"To help ensure as smooth a transition as possible, we are carrying out traffic lane upgrades to both sites to improve access, and we will be removing the over-height barriers and time restrictions. These measures will help distribute visitor numbers more evenly over the course of the day and assist in reducing queuing."
Bracknell Forest Council's executive member for environment and chairman of the Joint Waste Disposal Board, Cllr Mrs Dorothy Hayes MBE, said: "Local councils have a statutory duty to help residents dispose of their household waste and at re3 we have two excellent, efficiently run and well-used recycling centres at Bracknell and Reading.
"In order to ensure that we continue to provide the best possible service, we have refreshed our Waste Acceptance Policy. re3 residents are still able to dispose of their household waste for free, and they will only be charged to cover the costs of processing some non-household items. Residents who use a commercial or commercial-type vehicle to visit the centres will still be able to do so with a free permit that they can apply for online, but, by doing so, we will now be able to enforce much more stringent restrictions to combat trade waste dumping."
Reading Borough Council’s lead councillor for neighourhoods, Cllr Liz Terry said: "By clamping down on trade waste abuses, covering the costs of non-household waste processing and ensuring that we only pay for waste brought to re3 recycling centres by re3 residents, we will be able to provide a more cost-effective waste management service. As we will be checking all vehicles as they arrive, residents will notice a difference to their visit, but we ask them to bear with us as the changes have been necessary to help in generating essential savings.
"Opening hours at the recycling centres remain the same – with both Bracknell and Reading sites open until 8pm during the summer months - and residents can plan their trips to coincide with quieter times by checking the webcams on the re3 website."
More information
For more information on the re3 recycling centres, please visit the re3 website, follow re3 on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
