Recycling centre closure delayed for a second time

The closure of a household recycling centre for essential repairs has been postponed again until the summer, according to a council.

Hempsted Household Recycling Centre (HRC) in Gloucester was due to close in January for improvements. The work was put on hold until Easter and has now been delayed again.

The site, which is run by the council's not-for-profit company Ubico, is now expected to close at the beginning of August and reopen at the end of October.

Councillor Martin Horwood, said: "Lots of people are on holiday [in August], people aren't quite so keen on taking trips to the recycling centre so hopefully that won't be too much of a disruption for people."

The Hempsted site has been operational since the 1990s and was last upgraded in 2019.

Horwood, cabinet member for waste reduction at Gloucestershire County Council, said the "shiny new recycling centre" will be more efficient, "even more environmentally friendly" and will offer an improved "service for everyone".

"Some of the improvements are going to be ones that benefit the wider environment so we're replacing old fossil fuel driven compactors so that will be more efficient environmentally," he said.

"We'll just generally make the whole place look smarter, run more efficiently and be more environmentally friendly."

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