Reuse and Recycling Centre in Southwark re-opening on 14 May 2020

Southwark Council has announced the re-opening of the Reuse and Recycling Centre after being closed due the restrictions in place due to the coronavirus COVID-19. The service will be restricted as indicated in the information published on the council’s website shown below.

We expect many people will want to use the service immediately therefore you may consider delay until later time to visit the centre unless it’s totally necessary. Ensure you follow the instructions and bring the necessary paperwork with you

Information published by Southwark Council

Until further notice, all residents must obtain a permit in advance to use the recycling centre. You cannot enter the site without a permit. You can apply below, and permits are free of charge.

If you’re a Southwark resident you can dispose of a wide range of unwanted household and garden items at the Recycling Centre for free. The Recycling Centre can only be used for household waste.

You’ll need to display a valid resident permit and ID which shows your Southwark address when you arrive at the Recycling Centre. You can only visit on the date and times shown on your permit. You should bring a current UK photo-card driving licence and one of the following:

current Council Tax bill
recent utility bill
recent bank statement

You must not visit the Recycling Centre if you are:

classed as extremely vulnerable and are remaining at home for shielding purposes
symptomatic with coronavirus (COVID-19)
in a 14-day household isolation because a member of your household is symptomatic

If any member of the household has had coronavirus symptoms:

Households that are self isolating because a member of the household has had coronavirus symptoms should follow the UK Governments stay at home advice. This requires you to:

store personal waste such as tissues and disposable cleaning cloths within disposable rubbish bags
place these bags into another bag, tied securely and keep it separate from other waste
these bags should be put aside for a minimum of 72 hours (3 days) before you put them in your general waste bin
you cannot take this type of waste to the Recycling Centre

Please read Obtaining a resident Permit for the RRC information before booking a time slot.

Book a resident permit to visit the RCC

Until further notice, householders bringing waste to the Recycling Centre must book in advance, and obtain a permit. This is to make sure that the traffic does not obstruct the highway, to keep queues shorter, and so we can ensure social distancing on site to reduce risk of infection during the period of COVID19 service restrictions. We hope to return to normal access arrangements in a few weeks depending on the level of demand, although we will still need to restrict the numbers of people who can be in the HWRRC at the same time.

There are a number of changes we have introduced to reduce the risk to you and to our staff as much as possible:

you should only visit the site where it is essential to dispose of your waste. This means that the waste/recycling could not be stored on your property without causing a risk of injury, health or harm to you or other members of your household, or harm to public health and amenity
you may wish to use gloves and hand sanitiser when you visit the recycling centre. We are not able to supply these items. You should wear sensible clothing and shoes for your own protection while on site
you should be aware that there is a potential infection transmission risk between site users whilst on site, and neither the council nor its contractors can be held liable in the event that you do contract any infection as result of using the site
we cannot accept the full range of materials that would normally be accepted at the site – including any materials that we already collect through household recycling collections. WE also cannot accept waste paint, textiles, books or other materials for reuse, as charity projects who normally received these items are currently closed
the named resident must be present with valid ID documents (the ID address to match the permit itself) to access the HWRRC on the date and time shown. You cannot visit on other dates or times
no more than two persons may step out of the vehicle while inside the facility, and only to unload items of waste you cannot lift by yourself. You must unload your waste yourselves and place it in the correct bays. Site staff are not able to provide assistance with unloading
you must observe social distancing rules while on site, and remain at least 2 metres from staff and other visitors
wash your hands as soon as you can after leaving the site – preferably using an alcohol based hand sanitiser

You will need to make a booking at least one day before visiting the RRC. The limited capacity means that we may be fully booked quickly, and you may have to wait a few days before visiting.

You can dispose of a wide range of unwanted household and garden items at the recycling centre. You need to be able to unload these items yourself into the storage bay when you visit. You cannot bring in any waste produced by a business or by commercial activity.

Don’t forget that many retailers offer take back services where they can take away your old appliances when they deliver your new one. This can be a lot easier than bringing it in for disposal yourself.

You cannot bring in materials that are already being collected in recycling collections, including any of the following, which should be put out for collection on your normal recycling collection day:

Aerosols, cans and tins, card and cardboard, cartons (food and drink cartons, eg Tetra Paks), glass bottles and jars, paper, plastic bottles and plastic food containers.

We can still accept a wide variety of materials for recycling, including:

batteries (household and car)
building rubble and hardcore
electrical appliances, large and small
electronic equipment
fridges and freezers – domestic only
garden waste
gas bottles
lightbulbs (any kind, including fluorescent)
metal
mobile phones
oil, used engine and cooking oil
plasterboard
plastic bags/film
textiles, clothes and shoes (please store textiles and shoes until charity shops are able to re-open as these cannot be recycled at present)
tyres
wood, timber, MDF and chipboard

Some items not on this list, which we would normally accept for recycling, will currently have to be sent for disposal until normal services resume. You can also bring general mixed household waste, which is sent for energy recovery or to a landfill site.

If you’re disposing of unwanted computing equipment, either at the recycling centre, or via our bulky waste collection service, you should ensure that all personal information has been thoroughly wiped from any storage devices (eg hard drives) within that equipment.

If you need to bring household waste to the RRC you will need to book in advance, and obtain a permit. There is no charge for a permit, but you can only visit once in any month while restrictions are in place, and you must apply for a separate permit each time you visit.

you cannot transfer your permit to another person or vehicle.
you cannot bring in waste from any kind of business.
you cannot bring in waste from your tenants if you are a landlord or property manager

We are not able to issue permits in respect of builders, tradespeople, or other contractors acting on your behalf. You will need to either bring this waste yourself to the HWRRC, or arrange for separate disposal (eg by hiring a skip). If someone other than you, such as a family member, is driving the vehicle on your behalf, you will need to be present yourself when the waste is brought in – as the permit can only be issued in your name, for you to deposit waste, from your own household.

The restrictions apply to both cars ands vans, and no trailers are allowed. The maximum gross loaded weight for vehicles entering the facility is 3.5 tonnes. We cannot allow access by pedestrians or bicycles because of the difficulties in maintaining social distancing while in the queue and inside the facility.

You must provide the vehicle registration number you will be using, the waste you are bringing to the reuse and recycling centre, the date you intend to visit, and choose an available one hour time period. You must book at least one day before visiting, but available permits may be taken so you may need to book ahead.

The permit will be sent to you by email immediately after booking. You will need to print the permit and bring it with you when you visit. Once a permit has been issued, we cannot change any details shown, such as date of visit, waste types or vehicle information, so you need to make sure that you have all the details correct before you request a permit.

See the government’s stay at home and social distancing guidance.

For the latest information on recycling and bin collections in Southwark, click on the Southwark Council logo