The recycling centres at Hunters Lane in Rugby, Prince’s Drive in Leamington Spa, Burton Farm in Stratford and Judkins in Nuneaton will open for normal Monday and Tuesday hours – 9.30-15.15.

Centres at Wellesbourne, Kenilworth, Shipston, Stockton and Grendon will be closed for both Monday and Tuesday.  Normal service resumes on the Wednesday with seven of the county’s nine HWRCs staying open until 18.15.

Cllr Alan Cockburn, portfolio holder for sustainable communities, said:  “With warm weather and the Jubilee celebrations, we hope that many of our residents will be enjoying parties over the weekend and the Bank Holidays.

“An inevitable by-product of parties is packaging but with much of that being recyclable, we trust that keeping some of the centres open will be a great help to people trying to stay on top of their recycling.”

Full details of the opening times of all recycling centres is available at www.warwickshire.gov.uk/recycling

The following sites will be CLOSED:

During the week, the partnership plans to stage a series of compost sales around the county and promote the benefits of composting.

Green waste collected from households is delivered to large scale composting facilities, which, once composted down, results in a nutrient rich soil improver ideal for enriching flower and vegetable borders or using as part of a potting mix.

Warwick District Council and SITA UK are offering bags of locally produced compost, made from the County’s green bin collections, for just £2.50 per 20kg bag. The offer is for Warwick District residents who visit SITA’s depot at 10 Blick Road, Heathcote Industrial Estate, Warwick, CV34 6TA between 9am and 12noon from Tuesday 8^th May – Saturday 12^th May to make a cash purchase.

40 litre bags of compost will also be on sale at the following re-use shops at Warwickshire’s Household Waste Recycling Centres;

Age UK at Hunters Lane Recycling Centre in Rugby – £2.99 per bag or 10 bags for £25.

• The Shakespeare Hospice at Burton Farm in Stratford – £3 per bag
• Action 21, Re-useful Centre, Ramsey Road, Leamington Spa – £3 per bag or 2 bags for £5.

Cllr Alan Cockburn, Chair of the Warwickshire waste Partnership, said: “Most people do not realise that up to 30 per cent of their household bin is made up of organic waste which can be turned into compost. Composting is an inexpensive, natural process that transforms your kitchen and garden waste into a valuable and nutrient rich food for your garden. It is both easy to make and use. Home compost can improve soil structure, maintain moisture levels and help to keep your soil’s PH balance in check while helping to suppress plant disease.”

UK households in England throw away around 4 million tonnes of waste every year that could have been composted. Home composting not only helps to significantly reduce carbon emissions, it can also be used as an effective and sustainable waste management method to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.

For those interested in home composting, now is the perfect time to get started. Through the Warwickshire Waste Partnership, householders can purchase home compost bins for as little as £16 for the 220 litre capacity and £19 for the larger 330 litre bin.

For further information about these products, please call 0844 571 4444.  Alternatively, you can also order your home composters and composting accessories online, just visit www.getcomposting.com

The Bank Holidays for this Year are:

Upon all the above dates, the following Household Waste Recycling Centres will be CLOSED:

However, the following Household Waste Recycling Centres will be OPEN:

Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action (CAVA) and the Heart of England Community Foundation have created ‘Warwickshire Community Recycling’ as a joint charitable enterprise which took over the management of Stockton and Wellesbourne recycling centres from the county council on April 1.

The transfer of the sites to the voluntary sector means that the community will help run them and enable seven day opening to continue at the county’s eight busiest centres.

Stockton, near Southam, is a part-time site and will remain open on weekends while Wellesbourne will remain open every day. Warwickshire Community Recycling will also run re-use shops at three other sites – Shipston, Lower House Farm – the North Warwickshire replacement for Grendon due to open in early 2013 – and Cherry Orchard in Kenilworth.

The voluntary sector will provide the staff to operate the on-site shops, assist members of the public and ensure recycling is sorted. Warwickshire Community Recycling will receive the recycling income to cover the costs of operating the sites with surpluses being donated to local charities through the Heart of England Community Foundation.

Cllr Alan Cockburn, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Communities and Chair of the Warwickshire Waste Partnership, said: “We are proud to announce a landmark partnership with CAVA and look forward to working with the voluntary sector to deliver this service.

“This is the first scheme of its kind in the country and it means that we can make financial savings but keep open all our existing recycling centres and maintain a seven-day a week service at the eight busiest sites.

“Warwickshire’s household waste recycling centres continue to divert vast amounts of waste from landfill and we are very excited about working with the third sector to continue to deliver such a valuable service to our residents.”

More than 1.5 million visitors brought over 62,500 tonnes of waste to Warwickshire’s household waste recycling centres last year. Wellesbourne received 47,000 visitors last year and Stockton 25,000.

Paul Tolley, Chief Executive of Warwickshire Community And Voluntary Action, said: “What is so exciting about this new model of working is that it will not only save money for the taxpayer and increase recycling rates but also create funds for voluntary and community groups at a time when funding is so sparse.”

Kate Mulkern from the Heart of England Community Foundation added: “This project will ultimately generate thousands of pounds which we will distribute to grassroots Warwickshire community groups. It’s a perfect example of local charities working together for the benefit of all.”

The review of Household Waste Recycling Centres was initiated after budget reductions required an £800,000 saving in the next financial year to cover all nine sites and the disposal of green waste and recycling that comes from them.

Under the new arrangements, the county council maintains overall control of all the sites, including provision of technical and management support. The sites at Grendon in North Warwickshire, Hunters Lane in Rugby, Cherry Orchard, Princes Drive in Leamington, Burton Farm in Stratford and Shipston are all operated directly by Warwickshire County Council with weekday opening reduced to six hours a day. Nuneaton will have a new facility, due to open in 2015, which will be operated by the private sector.

The latest example yesterday afternoon (Sunday) saw a hand grenade uncovered by staff in a skip at Judkins HWRC in Nuneaton.

The site was closed off to the public immediately after the alarm was raised as emergency procedures were activated. Police were called and bomb disposal experts arrived on scene and made the weapon safe and removed it from the site.

Judkins HWRC opened as normal again this morning (Monday). Following the grenade discovery, the county council has compiled a list of the top ten of strangest items brought to Warwickshire’s HWRCs, which include a live duck and a 50ft-long boat which the owner was looking to break up and recycle.

Here is the list in full:

10. Cannabis plants recycled in green waste

9. A dead lamb

8.  Live ammunition

7. Pair of inflatable dolls

6. Set of risque ‘home photos’

5. A kitten (found alive)

4. Suitcase full of marital aids

3.  A duck was (found quacking in green waste and rescued by RSPCA)

2. Hand grenade

1. 50ft-long boat

Cllr Alan Cockburn, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Communities, said: “I must express thanks to the staff who handled the latest incident very calmly and professionally, and to visitors to the Judkins site who remained patient while it was closed so the explosive could be made safe and there was no further danger to the public.

“We always welcome items of household waste to our recycling centres and the many weird and wonderful items we receive from the public never ceases to amaze us. As usual, it is down to the diligence of our staff who do their utmost to make sure that the items ultimately go to the most appropriate destination.

“Our Household Waste Recycling Centres continue to be very successful and last year our sites across the county received a total of 1.5 million visits and 62,500 tonnes of waste.”

Warwickshire County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres are at Grendon, Judkins, Shipston, Hunters Lane, Cherry Orchard, Princes Drive, Stockton, Burton Farm and Wellesbourne.

Love Food Hate Waste has the perfect recipe for creating something delicious from leftover yoghurt and overripe bananas which might otherwise go to waste. If you have any spare sultanas, flaked almonds or soft berries at home these all make tasty additions to the batter too.

Recent research shows that around 1.3 million unopened yoghurts are thrown away every day in the UK, and fresh fruit and vegetable tops the list of the most wasted food type. Each year in the UK we buy and then waste around £12bn on food and drink which could have been eaten. That is an average of £50 per month per household. So instead of sending your leftovers to the bin, why not follow our simple recipe for a Shrove Tuesday treat.

Emma Marsh from Love Food Hate Waste said: “Using up leftovers is really easy, especially on Pancake Day. Save money and a trip to the shops by using up what you already have at home. Pancakes are so versatile and as long as you have the basic ingredients of milk, eggs and flour you can use anything you like as an accompaniment. Plus, it’s a great chance to get creative with your leftovers.”

Ingredients:

1 egg lightly beaten

125ml milk

125ml yoghurt

2 overripe bananas mashed with a fork

150g plain flour

A pinch of salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Instructions:

Mix together the egg, milk, yogurt and bananas.

Sieve the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl then stir in the ‘wet’ ingredients and the sugar. The batter will look a little lumpy.

Transfer to a mixing jug and allow to stand for 10 minutes.

Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over a medium heat until smoking hot, turn the heat down and pour small amounts of batter into the pan. Cook in batches on each side until golden.

Use a palette knife to flip the pancakes and keep them on a plate in a warm place until you’ve used up all the batter.

Emma said: “Once you’ve mastered this pancake recipe idea, why not try something different? Savoury pancakes are great too and can be eaten as a main meal with toppings such as ham and cheese or chilli.”

For more creative ideas for using up your leftovers visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Warwickshire County Council has led on procurement of a contract to recycle road sweepings which will save the authority around £400,000 a year over seven years – as well as boosting the county’s recycling rate by at least three per cent.

In a groundbreaking move, Warwickshire has signed up a host other neighbouring authorities to the contract with SITA UK Ltd – Coventry City Council, Staffordshire County Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Herefordshire Council, Worcestershire County Council and Leicestershire County Council have all joined the partnership.

SITA’s new state-of-the-art processing facility in Wolverhampton will handle up to 30,500 tonnes a year from the seven authorities over the contract, which officially commenced this week (January 3).

Cllr Alan Cockburn, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Communities, said: “It is almost unheard of to have seven neighbouring councils signing up on the same contract and we are justifiably proud that we have achieved such a groundbreaking deal.

“This kind of joined-up working between local authorities will deliver a more efficient service across the Midlands region and ultimately save money from the public purse.

“The signing of this innovative contract means that we will be diverting road sweepings from landfill and avoiding escalating landfill tax which is set to hit £80 a tonne by 2014.”

The Wolverhampton plant will recycle 98 per cent of the material from the sweepings including sand and grit plus organic material, which can be composted.

The recycled sand and aggregates can be reused in road construction, pipe bedding materials or blended with rock salt and used as grit on roads in the winter months. Meanwhile composted organic material – rich in nutrients – is suitable for blending with soils in land remediation projects.

Participating authorities are forecasting a diversion of nearly 300,000 tonnes of material from landfill across the life of the contract, which is an initial seven years with a potential extension of a further three years.

The procurement exercise was showcased at the October 2011 meeting of the West Midlands Waste Alliance and is now being chronicled as an Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands (IEWM) case study.

Wawickshire’s Household Waste Recycling Centres opening hours are changing from Monday.

All sites, apart from the part-time opening at Stockton, will remain open seven days a week but with weekday reductions to six hours per day as part of the county council’s budget savings.

Following public consultation, the new arrangements will commence on Monday (January 9) at all sites except Judkins in Nuneaton which is run by a contractor and will change on April 1.

The last admission to the sites is listed below. The sites will fully close 15 minutes later. If on site before “last entry time”, residents will have time to recycle and dispose of their waste. The new gate opening and closing times will be:

Winter

Monday to Friday – 9.30 to 15.15 (apart from Stockton which is only open on Monday and weekends)

Saturday and Sunday – 8.30 to 16.15 (apart from Shipston which shuts at 12.15)

Summer

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday – 9.30 to 15.15 (apart from Stockton which only opens on Mondays and weekends)

Wednesday – 9.30 to 18.15 (apart from Stockton which is closed and Shipston closes at 15.15)

Saturday and Sunday – 8.30 to 17.45 (apart from Shipston which shuts at 12.15)

Opening hours may vary during holiday periods.

Cllr Alan Cockburn, Portfolio Holder for the Sustainable Communities said: “Following the consultation in the summer we have tried to meet the savings required and minimise the impact upon the public by keeping all nine sites open, keeping weekend opening the same as before, opening later one evening a week, working with the third sector and improving the on site re-use shops.

“In addition, to meet our savings we also need all residents to sort their waste carefully before visiting the sites to maximise the amount of waste we recycle and reduce the expensive landfill bill we pay for the general rubbish.”

Warwickshire County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres are at Grendon (North Warwickshire), Judkins (Nuneaton), Shipston, Hunters Lane (Rugby), Cherry Orchard (Kenilworth), Princes Drive (Leamington), Stockton, Burton Farm (Stratford) and Wellesbourne.

Please visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/hwrc for more information.

Warwickshire County Council and DHL Envirosolutions are encouraging everyone to recycle or donate their unwanted electronic items during the Christmas and New Year period at their local recycling bank, as part of a national campaign for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).

The amount of electronic waste that people throw away is increasing by around five per cent each year, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the UK. The ‘WEEE Recycle’ campaign has been set up to prevent this growth and to ensure that more unwanted or waste electronic items are either reused or recycled.

Ruth Payne, Warwickshire County Council’s Waste Projects Officer, said: “The festive period is very much a time of out with the old and in with the new, and we are supporting this national campaign to ensure that more unwanted or waste electronic items are either reused or recycled.

“The message to the public is please don’t throw your old gadgets and gizmos into the dustbin but take them to your nearest recycling bank instead.”

Last year in the UK people bought more than 1.2 million tonnes of new electrical and electronic equipment – that is the equivalent of 150,000 double-decker buses! Only about half of this amount was reused or recycled responsibly. A significant proportion of the remainder ended up in landfill, where lead and toxins contained in these items can cause soil and water contamination. This can have a harmful effect on natural habitats, wildlife and human health.

A waste electronics recycling TV advert has been produced as part of the ‘WEEE Recycle’ campaign, which will be aired to the nation for the first time on 26 December. The advert aims to raise householder awareness of the need to recycle waste electronics. The organisation that funded the advert, WEEE connect, has been supported by DHL Envirosolutions. WEEE connect sees the Christmas period as an ideal time for local businesses and councils to run waste electronics recycling campaigns, as at this time of year many people receive new electronic items as gifts.

In the year up to October 2010, Warwickshire County Council, via their household waste recycling centres, has managed to divert over 2400 tonnes of waste electronics from landfill.

If you would like further information about where you can recycle your unwanted or broken electronic items, please visit Warwickshire County Council’s website or access the recycling bank locator at www.recyclenow.com