Plans for a brand-new Household Reuse and Recycling Centre at Hartcliffe Way in South Bristol have today [Wednesday 18 March 2020] been approved by Bristol City Council’s Development Control Committee.
The development, which will be the largest household recycling centre in the region, will provide a much called for facility in the South of the Bristol. It will mean residents no longer need to travel across the city to existing facilities in St Philips and Avonmouth.
The centre will bring additional recycling capacity to the city, helping to meet growing demand and provide residents with a modern, accessible, facility. This will make it easier and more convenient for everyone to recycle their household waste. A split-level layout and one-way traffic system will enable residents to safely sort their items into easily accessible, dedicated bins.
In addition to this, the new site will also be home to a reuse shop and purpose-built workshop. The shop will divert good quality, pre-loved items from the waste stream. A team of staff and trained volunteers will ensure the items are fit for purpose, before selling the household products, such as televisions, furniture and vacuums, at low cost to residents.
By redirecting reusable items from disposal, it will reduce costs, save valuable resources and help Bristol reach its ambitious recycling targets. Profits from the sale of reusable items will be reinvested in waste reduction schemes, as well as supporting local charities. A reuse workshop will also be built into the site to support this vital work.
The purpose-built shop will be the second of its kind in Bristol, with the first opening in Avonmouth in early 2020.
The shop builds on the hugely successful reuse sales run by the Bristol Waste Company to date. These have diverted over 70 tonnes of waste in to reuse since April 2018 with more than £5k raised for local charities.
Tony Lawless, Managing Director, Bristol Waste Company said: “The importance of having the right infrastructure in place to help Bristol waste less and recycle more has never been clearer. We are constantly striving to develop a more sustainable city and this exciting new site will offer additional recycling capacity for the city as well as reduce our carbon footprint by removing the need for resident to drive across the city to the existing sites.
“The Recycling Centre will help save valuable resources, offer low cost household items to local residents and help us reach our ambitious recycling targets.”
There are also plans to trial a cycle trailer loan scheme which would allow residents to borrow a trailer for their bike to take home goods from the reuse shop, or bring recycling and reuse items.
Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, said: “It is great to deliver this facility for residents of south Bristol to use. I would like to thank everyone for their patience as we now get on with the task of building.
“We are proud to be the leading English Core City for recycling, but we know there is always more that can be done, and this new facility will help us to reach our ambitious recycling targets for the city.
“Part of our commitment to making Bristol cleaner and greener is reducing the amount of waste that is sent to landfill, and this centre will help us to achieve this goal by supporting people to recycle, repair and reuse – giving pre-loved items a second life as often as possible.”
The site is due to open to the public in 2022. The site will be open seven days a week and will only close three days a year; 25 and 26 December and 1 January.
Bristol Waste Company