PR 1973
OFFICIAL OPENING OF NEW WINCHESTER RECYCLING CENTRE
Hampshire County Council's new state-of-the-art household waste recycling centre (HWRC) at Bar End, Winchester, has been officially opened for business - and that business is booming.
The site - the biggest in Hampshire - has been operating since December when it replaced the former HWRC in Garnier Road, and was designed with the customer firmly in mind. The old site was small with poor vehicle access but Bar End has already seen an increased recycling rate due to the vastly improved facilities.
Located at the southern end of Bar End Road near the park and ride car parks, it features an innovative circular split-level design allowing the bins to be serviced without having to temporarily close the site. It is quicker and easier to use than the former HWRC, with more bins for recycling different items and approximately double the number of parking spaces, along with all the usual HWRC facilities such as a site hut and a sales area.
Construction of the site is also a triumph for sustainable building practices. Part of the new access road is constructed utilising recycled bottom ash from the energy recovery facility at Chineham, in a unique partnership with Onyx Hampshire, the asphalt producers Foster Yeoman and the construction company RCS. Fences beside the road are made from recycled plastic, while several wildlife boxes have been installed for birds and bats.
The County Council's Executive Member for Environment, Cllr Keith Estlin, formally opened the new facility and praised the site.
He said: "Hampshire is nationally recognised as one of the best councils in the UK for waste management and recycling, and sites like this help to consolidate the position. The Bar End HWRC is a vast improvement on the former site, and I'm sure that everyone who uses it finds it a much better facility.
"The County Council recognises the value to the public of all 24 HWRCs in Hampshire and will be making significant capital investment in the coming years to improve their facilities, and increase their recycling rates above 60 per cent."
The opening times for the Winchester HWRC are 8am-7pm from 1 April to 30 September, and 8am-4.30pm from 1 October to 31 March. It is open every day, except 25 and 26 December and 1 January.
ENDS
Notes for Editors
The new Winchester HWRC can accept for recycling: bulky household items (fridges, cookers, washing machines), green garden waste, metal (ferrous and non-ferrous), newspapers and magazines, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, soil and rubble, plastic bottles, food and drink cans, furniture, bric-a-brac, hazardous household waste (gardening products and household chemicals), household batteries, fluorescent light tubes and bulbs, textiles, wood, used engine oil and car batteries.
Photo
Cllr Estlin (right) with Kevin Hopkins, site operator, (left) cutting the ribbon at the opening of the Bar End HWRC
For further media information please contact: Sarette Martin on 01962 847666
29/03/2005