Recycling centre recap!
There have been lots of exciting changes at recycling centres recently, with new services and improvements to sites. Many of these changes are supporting our move to a circular economy – where natural resources are used efficiently and products are designed to be durable, easy to repair and recyclable.
Community RePaint
Witham and Saffron Walden recycling centres recently joined Community RePaint’s paint reuse scheme. They have so far supplied residents and community groups with enough donated paint to fill a children's paddling pool – 589 litres!
Podback
Since teaming up with Podback, all Essex recycling centres now have coffee pod recycling facilities. Over 5.5 tonnes of coffee pods have been collected already. That’s the same weight as a hippo - and means (at least!) 550,000 cups of coffee were drunk.
Medical aids
Clacton Recycling Centre launched a collection point for unwanted medical aids. The initiative is run by MedEquip, who collect, refurbish and redistribute items. This ensures medical equipment stays out of landfill and goes to the people who really need it.
Colchester site maintenance
After nearly two months of maintenance works, Colchester Recycling Centre will reopen at full capacity at the end of March. While essential surface repair works took place, signage was updated, and new white lines were painted. These changes will help to make your visit much smoother and help increase the centre’s recycling rates.
Rigid plastics
Over 342 tonnes of rigid plastics have been recycled from Essex recycling centres in 2024. That’s enough to build a life-size LEGO version of Big Ben!
Community guidelines
To help your visit remain safe and welcoming, we put together some community guidelines. These set out how to use recycling centres effectively and what to expect from your visit
Online bookings
Along with an upgraded online booking system which launched in January, you will soon see recycling centre staff with digital tablets to check you in for your visit. This will allow staff to see bookings in real time and react quickly to quieter times by opening more booking slots.
Next steps
We hope to roll out many more new services across recycling centres in 2025.
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