Residents thanked for giving Mobile Household Recycling Centres a warm welcome
Birmingham: People in Birmingham have been thanked by the council for the support they have shown for the city’s recently launched Mobile Household Recycling Centres (MHRCs).
During their first month-and-a-half of operation (mid-July to the end of August) a total of 118.4 tonnes of waste have been presented at the MHRCs by residents wishing to dispose of waste in a responsible way.
The figures include 5.5 tonnes of paper and card as well as 2.7 tonnes of textiles – and given the numbers for this period only cover the first two of four MHRCs that are being rolled out across the city, it is expected the figures will continue to rise in the coming weeks and months.
The MHRCs are part of a wider £7.2million investment this year into street scene services, in recognition that citizen surveys see cleaner streets and waste collection as consistently high priorities for the people of Birmingham.
Cllr John O’Shea, Cabinet Member for Street Scene and Parks at Birmingham City Council, said: “We know that not everybody can easily get to one of traditional Household Recycling Centres. This pilot project is all about looking at how we can take a service out to our communities, rather than them having to come to us.
“It’s still early days, but the tonnage data is encouraging. We know cleaner, greener, streets are something people in this city care about passionately, so we will look at the numbers and the feedback we are receiving to ensure this is having the maximum positive impact possible.
“Residents and councillors in areas that have received a MHRC visit are all telling us how much they welcome the service. The project shows we are open to new ideas and will consider anything that makes it easy to dispose of waste and unwanted items in a simple and environmentally-responsible way.”
Each MHRC features three vehicles: a regular refuse collection vehicle for waste with no other use, a van for taking away items that can be reused by charities and a wagon with multiple compartments, enabling people to drop off waste for recycling by material type – just like at a conventional HRC.
The reuse van is only called to the site of a MHRC when the crew is presented with an item that has a reuse value. Such items are taken to the new reuse shop at Tyseley’s Household Recycling Centre.
A dedicated webpage on the city council’s website has details of what types of waste can be presented at MHRCs. Dates and times of visits are being promoted locally via councillors, community groups and hyperlocal website and social media accounts.
