Discussions are ongoing as to when reuse shops on household waste recycling centre – or civic amenity – sites may re-open in parts of the UK, as other non-essential retail stores begin to start trading again.
Onsite re-use shops have remained closed along with other non-essential retail, but some councils and waste management companies are in the start of discussions to reopen the shops.
Warwick county council confirmed to letsrecycle.com that it has plans to reopen reuse shops on the 15 June and is in talks with the shop’s partner, Age UK, as to the social distancing guidelines that will be in place.
FCC Environment
FCC Environment, which partners with local authorities and charities to run a number of re-use shops located on HWRCs up and down the country, told letsrecycle.com that the onsite shops in England are currently following the same guidelines as for charity retail shops.
The Foxhole HWRC reuse store in Suffolk which is run by the Benjamin Foundation for site operator FCC Environment
FCC runs sites in Buckinghamshire, Hull, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Neath Port Talbot, Nuneaton and Wrexham.
A spokesperson for FCC Environment said: “We are currently in talks with our partners about the reopening of re-use shops. As it stands, re-use shops in England are classed as non-essential shops and so cannot open until the 15 June at the earliest, with Wales yet to confirm re-opening dates.
“As you would expect, we are talking now to each of our local authority and charity partners about the implications for re-opening shops including such issues as footfall in respect of social distancing, staff who may be vulnerable or shielding, with a view to re-opening and continuing to provide much valued re-use facilities to the communities we serve.”
Demand
Some other councils in England however, have not yet begun discussions as to how these shops might safely reopen.
Devon county council, which like many other authorities is limiting access to HWRCs, said it has no “immediate plans” to reopen, or discuss the opening, of their stores due to the high demand at their reopened HWRCs for recycling and waste disposal services.
The county council said that with the current high demand at the sites, there is no safe way to reopen the stores with social distancing measures in place.
Monmouthshire’s reuse shop – HWRC shops in Wales are closed for the foreseeable future (picture: Monmouthshire council)
Scotland
The government-supported Zero Waste Scotland organisation confirmed to letsrecycle.com that all on site shops remain closed in Scotland with no discussions yet taking place as to when they can reopen. ZWS added that these discussions will take place once the Scottish government announce dates for non-essential retail to open.
Scotland is reopening non-essential shops in a phased approach, with monitoring of the coronavirus situation and making decisions based on the risk.
Wales
On site shops in Wales also remain closed and await guidance from Welsh government as to when they can re-open. Non-essential shops have not yet been given a date when they can reopen.
Monmouthshire council, which runs an HWRC shop in Llanfoist said: “When Welsh governments restrictions are lifted, we will do our best to reopen the shop but adjustments will need to be made to maintain social distancing”.
In south Wales, Newport Wastesavers (below) is in communication with residents asking them to “hold on” to reusable items until the shop at the Newport CA site is reopen.
The #Newport Tip Shop at the #recycling centre on Docks Way will NOT be opening soon. We cannot take donations. Please hold on to your unwanted reusable items you've cleared out of your shed/garage/attic/bedroom or mansion for a while longer. Thank you
— Wastesavers (@Wastesavers) May 21, 2020
The post Councils in tentative steps to open reuse shops appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
