Council opens waste centre booking system
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An online booking system enabling Aberdeenshire residents to start making trips to Household Recycling Centres (HRC) is now live.
Residents of Aberdeenshire will be asked to book a slot online to control the volume of vehicles accessing the centres when they reopen from Monday, June 1.
You can make your booking at www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/recyclingcentrebookings
For those who do not have access to a computer, telephone booking can be made by calling Aberdeenshire Council’s Wasteline on 03456 081207.
The slots will initially be released for the first week from Monday, June 1 to Sunday 7, and slots for the following days will be released daily seven days in advance, so customers should keep on checking back if they don’t manage to get a slot initially.
Having listened carefully to comments from the public, residents who own car-derived vans will also now be able to visit an HRC along with cars and pick-ups.
There will be no access for trailers or vans at this stage, however these will hopefully be accommodated in the second phase in due course.
In this initial phase, only bagged general waste, garden waste and electrical items will be accepted.
General waste, namely waste that would normally go in a black bin will only be accepted if it is bagged, with no loose items being accepted.
All garden waste must arrive bagged or in a suitable container before these are emptied in the appropriate skip, again no loose items are being accepted.
No other materials including cardboard, glass, wood, metals, textiles, rubble and bulky items will be accepted at this stage.
There will also be clearly-marked areas to deposit white goods and electrical items.
Only one adult should unload a vehicle - unless two adults are needed for heavy items and staff will be unable to assist with any unloading.
There will be no pedestrian access and no children will be permitted outside vehicles.
The decision to re-open some of the facilities has been taken in accordance with Government guidelines and is based on measures being put in place to protect both visitors and staff and the agreement of traffic management plans.
A spokesman for the council said: "First and foremost, it is important to stress that this is about a phased return to full services, with this initial phase focusing on allowing as many people as possible to get rid of their excess waste under a managed approach.
"All of our current restrictions will be kept under constant daily review and consideration will be given as to how quickly we can move to phase 2 and lift some of the conditions.
The HRCs were all closed to the public on March 24 following the Scottish Government’s implementation of the lockdown restrictions.
A visit to a recycling centre was considered a non-essential journey and this is a consistent position across all Scottish local authorities but due to the length of time the centres have been closed, a journey to a recycling centre to dispose of excess waste is now considered essential for health reasons.
