Published Date: Sep 29th, 2021
As the need for social distancing is not so acute, the booking system for the council's household waste recycling centres is being removed for cars at 10 of the council’s 11 recycling centres from Friday, October 1. Fife Council’s Environment & Protective Services Sub- committee reviewed access arrangements earlier this month.
The exception is Ladybank, where the recommendation is to maintain the booking system for all vehicles. The most recent risk assessment revealed a potential for danger if access is shared with the landfill site without the traffic management measures provided by the booking system.
Councillor Ross Vettraino, Convenor of the Council’s Environment and Protective Services Sub-committee said: “A booking system remains for vehicles other than cars. Vans and trailers can take a long time to unload and giving them open access could impede the smooth flow of traffic through the centres, and result in traffic queuing on roads outside the centres.
“The operation of the vehicles, which haul the waste from the centres to the landfill disposal sites, is currently seriously affected by the national shortage of HGV drivers. It is important to ensure the smooth flow of waste through the centres, so that the waste containers don’t become full before a haulage vehicle is available to replace the full container with an empty one, which could mean that the centre would have to close.
“Retaining the booking system for vans and trailers ensures the smooth flow of both vehicles and waste. A booking will still have to be made for cars at Ladybank Recycling Centre (Lower Melville Wood), as the most recent risk assessment revealed the need to ensure continued careful traffic management, as access is shared with the landfill site. Work is in hand to create a separate access to the Recycling Centre, so that the booking system for cars can be removed.
“Work looking at creating safe access for cyclists and pedestrians at those sites, where it would be possible to do so, is moving ahead as quickly as possible.”
The booking system will remain in place for all vehicles, which are designated by the DVLA as commercial vehicles so that site operations can be carried out safely and to ensure environmental compliance. Maintaining the booking system for commercial vehicles will also help prevent waste being disposed of illegally as well as reduce violence and aggression against staff.
More information https://www.fife.gov.uk/kb/bins-and-recycling
