Book HRCs
Everyone visiting the Household Recycling Centres are required to pre-book their visit.
This is to minimise queues and congestion on site and to help keep everybody safe.
Everyone visiting the Household Recycling Centres are required to pre-book their visit.
This is to minimise queues and congestion on site and to help keep everybody safe.
Tips and advice for Gloucestershire residents
We all know Christmas can be a busy time. There's so much going on that often recycling and the reason it's so important can fall to the very bottom of the priority list. Yet with so much extra waste at this time of year, Christmas is actually the ideal time to recycle everything you can.
Many of us will be expecting a new electrical or electronic device for Christmas. If you have old items which are beyond repair please ensure that these are recycled at the local Household Recycling Centre. Residents living in the Forest of Dean can also use their kerbside service to recycle small electrical items (collected on the same week as the refuse collection).
Waste electricals is the fastest growing waste stream in the UK but items such as these pose significant environmental problems if sent to landfill. Most gadgets contain small amounts of precious metals, of which there is a finite supply, so it is important that these are recovered. Some items may also contain hazardous substances such as lead and arsenic and while the use of mercury has declined in recent years, this can still be found in circuit boards and older electrical items. Heavy metals are especially harmful to human health and if not properly managed will persist in the environment with a risk of eventually reaching the food chain.
While appliances such as kettles, toasters, laptops and washing machines are instantly recognisable as electrical items, there are some items that are harder to spot. Many children's toys for instance (including some cuddly toys) will have a non-replaceable internal battery so remember that these count as waste electronic items.
So if your item has a plug, uses batteries (whether these can be replaced or not), needs to be charged or has a symbol of a crossed through wheeled bin it can be recycled.
Every Household Recycling Centre in Gloucestershire has a dedicated bank for small appliances and a designated area where larger items, such as white goods, can be dropped off for recycling.
'Real' Christmas trees are 100% recyclable. Trees can be taken to your local Household Recycling Centre and many local councils in Gloucestershire collect them as part of their garden waste kerbside service or offer collection points where trees can be taken.
Some residents may see some changes to their waste and recycling collections during the festive period. To see how your collections are affected please see the guidance given below: