Croydon’s three household reuse and recycling centres (HRRC) are set to reopen to the public on Wednesday, with new rules in place to help keep residents safe whilst on site.
Factory Lane, Fishers Farm and Purley Oaks HRRCs will start to accept household waste in black bags, garden waste, small electrical goods and small ‘bulky waste’ items that cannot be put in black bags, including furniture such as chairs and carpets. Visitors must be able to carry items on their own, as social distancing means staff will not be able to help them. No other types of waste will be accepted at this time.
The changes have been put in place at the sites to enable them to operate safely. Visitors will need to obey social distancing rules and signs have been installed to remind them to keep a two metre distance between themselves and other customers and site staff.
Until further notice, only cars can use HRRC facilities and only one person should exit each vehicle to ensure social distancing can be maintained. Visitors should be aware it may be necessary to temporarily close the sites if they become too busy.
Also, fewer cars are allowed access to each site at any one time and residents’ permits must be displayed and will be checked prior to entry, which may lead to longer queues.
Additional traffic management will be in place on Factory Lane and Brighton Road to manage queues.
Residents who can continue to safely store excess waste at home are being advised to continue to do so until the situation returns to normal and those with large, unwanted items are encouraged to use the council’s bulky waste collection service which offers residents two free bulky waste collections and one free large white goods collection a year.
The new opening times are as follows;
- Factory Lane, in West Croydon, will open from 7.30am to 4.30pm Monday to Saturday and 8.30am to 4pm on Sundays. Visitors have to access the site from the south via Roman Way, A236.
- Purley Oaks, in Purley, will open from 8am to 3.30pm Monday to Sunday. There will be no access from Purley. All visitors will need to join the queue on Brighton Road, A235, north of the site.
- Fishers Farm, in New Addington, will open from 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 2pm on Saturdays and 9am to 1pm on Sundays. Access is maintained as usual.
Residents are being advised that waiting times could be much longer than usual due to the implementation of social distancing rules to help keep them safe.
“The household reuse and recycling centres are opening on Wednesday 13 May, but I’d ask residents to be sensible and not all rush to the sites at once.
“We do expect the sites to be busy but residents can help us to reduce queue time by visiting later in the week and at quieter times, avoiding the start and end of the day where possible and only making the trip if absolutely necessary. We are still asking residents to store excess waste safely at home if they are able to or to use the council’s bulky waste collection service.
“While the new rules may make it take longer to access the facilities, I hope residents can understand the need to introduce these measures to help protect both them and site staff.”
Councillor Stuart Collins, deputy leader – Clean Green Croydon
Anyone self-isolating due to Covid-19 symptoms or those in the shielded group should not visit the HRRCs.
More information is available on the council’s website.
