How recycling centres will reopen in Bridgend County Borough

Bridgend County Borough Council has revealed details on how it will reopen its community recycling centres at Tythegston, Maesteg and Brynmenyn on Tuesday 26 May 2020.

The sites, which had to close as part of all-Wales efforts to combat the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, will be available for essential use only and will have a number of temporary measures in place. They will be open between 8.30am-7pm during the week, and 8.30am-5pm at weekends.

The authority has emphasised that the recycling centres are not reopening for business as normal, but to cater only for urgent items which cannot wait until lockdown is over.

With long queues likely, the council is arranging to put traffic management in place and is urging people to only take waste to the community recycling centres if it is absolutely necessary.

As an alternative, people are being asked to consider whether the waste can be stored safely at home until lockdown restrictions have been lifted, or disposed of using the bulky waste collection service.

To help cut down on waiting times and manage the number of vehicles using the sites, an odds-and-even car number plate system is being put in place following successful trials in other parts of the UK.

How the number plate system works
If the last number of a vehicle number plate is even – i.e. 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8 – that vehicle will be granted access on Wednesday 27, Friday 29 and Sunday 31 May, and Tuesday 2, Thursday 4 and Saturday 6 June. This will apply to plates reading e.g. VH92 GHD or RECYL8 where the last numbers - ‘2’ and ‘8’ – are both even.

If the last number of the vehicle number plate is odd – i.e. 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 – then that vehicle will be allowed to enter a site on Tuesday 26, Thursday 28 and Saturday 30 May, and Monday 1 June, Wednesday 3 June, Friday 5 June and Sunday 7 June. This will apply to plates reading e.g. GJ25 HJK or PRIV8 A3 where the last numbers – ‘5’ and ‘3’ - are both odd.

Further details and a schedule for the recycling centres will be made available at the council’s website before the sites reopen.

Accessing the sites
The council intends to put a mixture of traffic management, road closures and alternative routes in place to ensure people can access the sites safely. Staff will also be on hand to offer advice and support to drivers.

At Tythegston, access will only be available to vehicles travelling in from the A48 – there will be no site access from the A4106 Bridgend Road.

At Brynmenyn, a diversion will direct vehicles to approach the site on George Thomas Avenue by driving and queuing along St Theodore’s Way and Chilcott Avenue.

Access to the site at Maesteg will be normal with no further changes necessary.

At each site, only cars will be allowed access. Until further notice, vans, trailers and 4x4 crew cab vehicles will not be allowed in, and the permit scheme will not be available.

Only a few cars will be let in to the sites at a time, so delays must be expected. Drivers are being advised in advance that they will need to queue, and that they should not get out of their cars until it is their turn.

Using the sites
All items and materials MUST be sorted before entering a recycling centre, and only one person will be allowed to get out of the car to dispose of waste.

Staff will not be able to help unload or move items from cars due to social distancing requirements, so please only bring waste that one person can carry safely.

As only a few cars will be let in each time, visitors should have no difficulty maintaining social distancing while at the sites, but anyone who refuses to do so will be asked to leave immediately, as will anyone who is abusive to staff.

Any unnecessary travel increases the risk of exposure to the coronavirus for you, for staff and for other users, so please think about whether it is absolutely essential to visit the recycling centre while lockdown is in place.

Under no account should anyone enter a site if they or someone they live with has symptoms of Covid-19, such as a high temperature or a new continuous cough.

Please do not take waste to a site that you could otherwise recycle as part of the weekly kerbside collection. There is no limit on how much recycling you can put out, and you can always order additional recycling containers from the council website.

Deputy Leader Hywel Williams

Councillor Richard Young, Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “We anticipate that these temporary measures will need to be in place for several weeks before we can start to look at returning to a more normal service.

“In the meantime, the council is working alongside its waste partner Kier to ensure that weekly recycling collections and fortnightly waste collections of household waste can continue without interruption, and that the community recycling sites can be used for essential visits safely and without exposing staff and users to the Covid-19 coronavirus.

“The pandemic is far from over and we must maintain our guard at all times, but together, we can help maintain a strong waste and recycling service for everyone during the Covid-19 crisis.”

• For more information visit our community recycling centres webpage