We’d like your comments on how household waste recycling centre (HWRC) services are delivered in the future.
We want to deliver a service that enables our residents to recycle and dispose of their waste responsibly but is also within the limits of what is affordable over the coming years.
No final decision on how we do this has yet been made and we are now consulting on a number of options so that we can develop a final recommendation, which will be presented back to the environment and communities committee in autumn this year.
A key aspect of the recommendation will be a focus on delivering a service that promotes waste prevention and reduction so that ultimately, less waste needs to be disposed of at our HWRCs and the impact on the environment is reduced.
You can also provide your feedback by emailing the Research and Consultation Team at ceconsultation@cheshireeast.gov.uk or by telephoning Customer Services on 0300 123 5500 who will send your enquiry to us on your behalf.
Also contact us via these methods if you have any questions about this survey, or if you want this questionnaire in a different format, or to submit your response in a different way.
More information about the review can be found by clicking through to the consultation. You might also find the answer to any questions you have by reading below.
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A review of HWRCs in Cheshire East is needed so that we can continue to deliver a service that enables residents to recycle and dispose of their waste responsibly and is also within the limits of what is possible financially over the coming years.
While we approved a balanced budget for the council for 2024/25 as part of our medium-term financial strategy (MTFS) 2024-28, we still forecast a four-year funding gap of £100m to balance our budget and ensure we hold an appropriate level of reserves.
All our HWRCs are in need of investment to ensure that they are well-equipped and up to modern standards, particularly to improve the general customer experience, the facilities for staff, and the security of the sites.
This investment is in addition to significant annual running costs of the sites, which continue to rise.
In February 2024, we agreed our medium-term financial strategy (MTFS) for 2024 to 2028, which sets out proposals for how we will balance our budget for the next four years - something which all councils must do.
The proposals include carrying out a review of our household waste recycling centres (HWRCs).
Setting the MTFS and agreeing our budget for 2024/25 was extremely challenging, and we are still forecasting a four-year funding gap of £100m to balance our budget and ensure we hold an appropriate level of reserves.
This is because of factors including the ongoing impact of the cost-of-living crisis and inflation on council finances, as well as increased demand and costs for adult social care and children’s services, especially special educational needs that have not been met by increased funding.
It is for these reasons that we must continue to make extremely difficult decisions about how key services in the borough are delivered, including about the household waste recycling centre service.
As part of the ongoing HWRCs review, we commissioned industry experts to assess the management and operation of HWRCs in Cheshire East.
The experts put forward four options for the future of the service, which we are now consulting on. The options take into account up-to-date site user data, which includes visitor numbers for each HWRC , and information about where people are travelling from to the different sites.
The recommendation we will present back to the environment and communities committee in autumn this year will consider the feedback received through the consultation, the affordability of the options presented, and up-to-date site user data. This data includes visitor numbers for each HWRC , and information about where people are travelling from to the different sites.
A key aspect of the recommendation will be a focus on delivering a service that promotes waste prevention and reduction so that ultimately, less waste needs to be taken to our HWRCs and the impact on the environment is reduced.
The council tax you pay is based on the valuation band of your property. The payments you make are a tax that contributes towards the costs of all council services, rather than a direct payment for an individual service.
This means that any change to HWRC services will not impact the amount of council tax you pay.
The council currently operates 7 HWRCs , which are located in Alsager, Bollington, Crewe, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Middlewich and Poynton.
As a potential variation to each of the 4 options we are consulting on for the future of the HWRC service, we are also considering the viability of replacing the current HWRC site at Alsager with a new HWRC site in Congleton.
Based on a high-level estimate, a new HWRC at Congleton could cost somewhere between £6-8m. This could place average annual capital borrowing repayments in the order of between £400k and £550k per year, assuming a 25-year repayment period.
Funding for this proposal is not included in our MTFS . If progressed as part of the final recommended option for HWRCs , a new HWRC would need to be funded from making changes to other services within the remit of the environment and communities committee budget. This would be in addition to the other proposals and essential savings already included in the MTFS .
It is a statutory requirement that councils provide the public with reasonable access to household waste recycling centres. The Waste and Resources Action Programme ( WRAP ) provides national guidelines for local authority management of HWRCs .
WRAP guidelines suggest that the maximum driving times to a HWRC for the great majority of residents should be 20 minutes in urban areas and 30 minutes in rural areas.
Currently, 7 HWRCs are operated in Cheshire East. It is not possible for us to provide individual HWRCs in all 14 of our towns or large villages – the cost would be too prohibitive, and this level of provision is not required by law.
We encourage people to reduce and reuse their waste and unwanted goods, and to use their silver bin to recycle as much of their waste as possible.
Items like furniture, toys and books can be donated to charities, and to save yourself a trip to a household waste recycling centre, you can also recycle many items at recycle banks across Cheshire East. These can be found at your local supermarket and on public car parks. Use the Recycle Now website to find a recycling facility near you.
If you’d like us to take your garden waste away, you can subscribe to our annual Garden Waste Recycling Scheme, or you could also try composting at home.
The Council closely monitors fly tipping as part of information passed to central government published though DEFRA . Importantly, fly tipping is a crime and an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Conviction could lead to a heavy fine. You can report fly tipping though our street cleansing, litter and fly tipping page.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is an organisation that provides national guidelines for local authority management of household waste recycling centres.
WRAP guidelines suggest that the maximum driving times to a household waste recycling centre for the great majority of residents should be 20 minutes in urban areas and 30 minutes in rural areas.
Any future reduction in sites may mean some residents travel slightly further to visit a HWRC . However, for each of the options we are consulting on, the vast majority of residents would still be within 20 minutes of a HWRC .
Legally, local councils cannot charge for statutory services. This means that we cannot charge people to access HWRCs and therefore it is not one of the options we can consult on.
As part of essential savings measures for 2024/25, and due to increasing operating costs, the emergency reduction of household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) in the borough has been agreed.
Four core sites will remain open in Alsager, Crewe, Macclesfield and Knutsford.
The emergency closure of Bollington, Poynton and Middlewich HWRCs is currently planned to take place in the next two months.
We are working to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible and as part of this, we will be putting in place mitigation measures.
These will include later mid-week evening opening hours at our 4 core sites, and the introduction, on a trial basis, of a mobile household waste recycling service for residents in the Bollington, Poynton and Middlewich areas.
We will also be trialling an online booking system for weekends and Bank Holidays so that we can manage the flow of traffic into the sites and people’s waiting times.
The final details of these mitigation measures continue to be developed but will be timed to go live at the same time to limit any disruption as much as possible.
Further information will be shared over the coming weeks. For now, all HWRCs in Cheshire East can be accessed as normal.
We will be engaging with town councils to explore opportunities for working in partnership to support HWRC services in their local areas.
The emergency closures and mitigation measures are being introduced separately to the review of HWRCs and are being introduced on a temporary and trial basis to ensure essential savings are made in 2024/25.