Fly-tipping fear over recycling centre wait

DRIVERS faced a two-hour queue to get into a South Wales recycling centre yesterday morning after rules on the types of vehicles which could go there were changed.

One woman said she took more than three hours in total just to drop off garden waste at the Bridgend community recycling centre in George Thomas Avenue.

Chrissie Chapman travelled from Pontycymer in the Garw Valley, but ended up stuck in the long queue at noon.

Chrissie said: “I couldn’t believe it - when we drove up there are signs now saying the average wait is two hours to get into the recycling centre.

“They’re only letting one person in at a time, even though it’s quite a large site, and I think people are taking a long time once they’re in there.

“I think even though everyone is coming here with good intentions, you’re having to wait hours if you’ve got the time, which is crazy really when you think everyone is just trying to do the right thing and bring their recycling down.”

She said garden waste doesn’t currently get collected locally and yesterday was the first day the site allowed vans and trailers to enter, provided drivers had used the permit system to make a booking.

Miss Chapman added: “Most people don’t even have two hours to wait around and then Lord knows where their rubbish will end up. The amount of fly-tipping around where we live is shocking, I just think the council isn’t doing itself any favours.”

A Bridgend Council spokesman said: “The ongoing restrictions in place at our three community recycling centres are there to help keep people safe. They include one vehicle in, one vehicle out with only a few cars on site at any one time and only one person allowed out of the vehicle to dispose of waste.

“When the community recycling centres reopened on May 26, we implemented an odds-and-even car number plate system which was designed to cut down on waiting times and manage the number of vehicles using the sites.

“While this ended a couple of weeks ago due to the reduced demand, we have continued to limit the number of vehicles on site at any one time for the safety of residents and staff working on the sites.

“From June 29, the community recycling centres are also allowing vans and trailers on site with the permit system for booking-in available.

“All items and materials must be sorted before entering a recycling centre.”