A number of Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) across Greater Manchester are to reopen from this weekend (2 May) with some restrictions and social distancing measures in place.

Announced on Tuesday (28 April), the nine councils that make up the Greater Manchester Waste Authority (GMWA) have agreed to reopen some recycling centres after a meeting of the Greater Manchester Covid-19 Emergency Committee.

Councils have come under increasing pressure to reopen HWRCs, with Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick stating that councils would be asked to “plan the organised opening” of HWRCs in the coming weeks amid reports of increased levels of fly-tipping across England and continued disruption to some waste collection services.

The reopening of Greater Manchester’s HWRCs will proceed in accordance with government guidelines and will be based on ‘staffing, accessibility and the agreement of traffic management plans’ with local authorities, and staffing arrangements at waste disposal facilities operated by waste management company SUEZ recycling and recovery UK.

SUEZ, which signed a contract to manage the Greater Manchester area’s waste in May 2019, has exercised caution over the reopening of HWRCs, laying out the conditions it believed necessary for their safe reopening, including limiting the amount of waste containers and car parking spaces, in a document published two weeks ago.

Selected HWRCs in Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford will reopen with a traffic control system based on even and odd number plates will be introduced on a four-week rota to limit the amount of traffic and the potential for transmission of the coronavirus.

The HWRCs will only be open to residents of Greater Manchester, who will need to provide proof of address to access the centres, wherein residents will only be able to dispose of bagged waste that they normally put in their general waste bin

Social distancing measures will be in place, with only a limited number of cars allowed on site at a time, with one person allowed out of their vehicle at a time, no staff assistance for visitors and no pedestrian access allowed to sites.

The GMWA has urged residents to only make journeys if ‘absolutely necessary’ and that kerbside waste and recycling collections are continuing as normal in all boroughs.

Commenting on the reopening of the chosen HWRCs, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “I want to thank the people of Greater Manchester for their patience while these facilities have been closed. At every stage of this process we’ve taken decisions based on the official guidance, which has been about limiting non-essential journeys and reinforcing the Stay At Home message.

“Now that the government guidance has been updated, we have taken a collective decision to reopen some of our centres. There will be localised traffic management in place to control queuing, with each council taking steps to ensure that centres can reopen and operate safely.

“While we are reopening centres, this is not a return to normal. We would ask the public to limit their journeys and only travel to a household waste and recycling centre if it is absolutely essential to do so. If the situation becomes unmanageable we may have to reassess this decision, but that is not something we want to do and, I hope, will not become necessary. Let’s everyone stay safe and look after each other at this difficult time.”

You can find out more about which HWRCs in Greater Manchester are opening and their opening times on the Recycle for Greater Manchester website.