A new Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) in Knowsley is hitting the heights as the best performing Centre in Merseyside.
Since it was opened in July 2012 the Huyton HWRC on Wilson Road, Huyton Business Park, has continued to improve recycling levels and divert more waste away from landfill. During the summer it managed to recycle and divert a record 85% of the waste accepted at the site.
This level of recycling performance has never been seen before on Merseyside* and Huyton HWRC’s performance can now be compared to the best Centres in the UK.
Huyton HWRC is one of fourteen Centres provided by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority. All of the HWRC’s are managed on the Authority’s behalf by Veolia Environmental Services.
Knowsley Councillor and MRWA Chairperson Graham Morgan said: “We’re delighted with the increased levels of recycling at all of our Recycling Centres, but especially pleased with Huyton. We made an investment in the new site last year and we’re now seeing levels of recycling that reflect that investment.”
In a recent customer satisfaction survey* of over 1000 people the Huyton HWRC scored almost perfectly on site usage, including 100% for signage, layout, direction and the range of accepted materials. The site also scored 100% for Overall Satisfaction by users and for appearance and cleanliness.
Councillor Morgan continued: “Local residents who visit the Centre have contributed to our success by recycling their waste. Recycling Centres have changed so much – rather than the majority of material going to landfill, we now have easily accessible containers for dozens of waste streams – it’s a totally different mentality to waste management than in years gone by, much more sustainable. I hope residents are as happy with Huyton as we are.”
Alex Paterson, Director of Veolia Environmental Services Merseyside and Halton said: “We are incredibly pleased with the results and performance at Huyton. Credit and thanks must go to the public using the new site at Huyton and to the site staff who have worked so hard to achieve these fantastic numbers.”
There are currently 14 Household Waste Recycling Centres in Merseyside, most of which accept more than 30 different materials for recycling. The most recycled items are garden waste, wood, scrap metal, electrical goods and rubble. All materials all go to reprocessors to be turned into anything from new cans to compost.Last year saw over 126,000 tonnes of material brought to the Recycling Centres by Merseyside householders. Of this 66% was diverted away from landfill.
As well as the new Huyton site, there has also been a new HWRC built in Kirkby, as well as significant improvements made to Sefton Meadows and Bidston. MRWA has also recently started work on a major redevelopment of its Ravenhead HWRC in St Helens.