Leominster town centre recycling bins removed

The bins in Etnam Street car park will no longer be available and residents who use them will now have to use the facilities at Morrisons.

The bring-recycle sites across the whole county were to be reduced from 38 to only eight from May 1 in a bid to save £100,000.

Leominster town councillor Wayne Rosser said: “We were given four days notice to try and fight it but there is nothing we can do. It’s disgraceful.

“If you can’t walk to Morrisons how are you supposed to go on recycling? Not everyone is provided with a wheelie bin and people in Etnam Street or Church Street haven’t got one.”

Kerry Thomson, communications officer at Herefordshire Council, said the few remaining bins will be located in market towns and in Hereford to enable residents who still rely on the service to recycle their glass to continue to have this service.

She said: “At the same time, this will also reduce duplication in the ways people can recycle and save £100k to put back into essential services.

“More than 80% of households in Herefordshire already have a wheeled bin recycling service. This allows the recycling of a wide variety of materials including glass.

“The remainder have a recycling sack service which allows the recycling of paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, cartons, metal tins and cans but not glass.

“Glass can also be recycled at any one of the household waste sites situated in Hereford, Ledbury, Bromyard, Leominster and Ross-on-Wye.

“Tesco’s supermarkets implemented their own glass recycling for householders in 2010, with Sainsbury’s now indicating to the council they will be doing the same within the next twelve months.

“In addition, 83 village halls, parish halls and community centres have taken up the offer of having one or two 240 litre bins for mixed recycling. 

"They are not charged for the service and this is provided on the basis that residents can use the bins for household recycling including glass.”