A KINGSLEY woman is demanding to know why new working practices have been introduced at local household waste recycling centres (HWRC) and how much they are costing the taxpayer. Promoted as heralding a new beginning at HWRCs across the county, a single contractor has come on board for most sites provided by Hampshire County Council, and with it a new broom. Hopkins Recycling has been awarded the contract to run 23 out of Hampshire's 24 HWRCs on behalf of HCC, following a formal tender exercise. And Bordon's Station Road HWRC and Alton's HWRC on the Omega business are among them. But, according to local resident Sylvia Wren, the changes should be questioned. Mrs Wren said that as from January workers at the centres have been stopped from breaking up and trampling down waste in the skips. The result is that instead of taking up to seven tons of rubbish each skip now takes just short of two tons, forcing centres to use three instead of one skip for the same volume of refuse. Since it is thought to cost in the region of £725 to remove the skip and empty it, it would seem that the cost of disposing of rubbish could escalate threefold. And it will increase the traffic movement to and from the centres, increasing the carbon footprint in direct opposition to both HCC and Government policy. Furthermore, Mrs Wren points out that the loosely packed rubbish will take up more valuable space in landfill sites, or at least require more onsite compacting In addition, it seems that users are no longer allowed to walk the plank and dispose of their own rubbish in the skips but have to wait for a centre operative to take it from them. And, unless users actually give recyclable items like furniture away to be sold, they too have to go into the skip and can no longer be retrieved by the operatives. Responding to these concerns, a spokesman for Hampshire County Council was adamant that it welcomes feedback. "Indeed, the new contract was based on customer research with the primary aim of improving the service for all householders to make it quicker and easier for them to use the sites." The spokesman confirmed, the tramping-down policy had nothing to do with the result of the new contract. "It is a result of health and safety guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which means site staff are no longer allowed to get directly into skips. "While this improves the personal safety of site staff, it also means that skips cannot be compacted in the same manual way as previously. "However, trials are ongoing at four sites to use mechanical compaction. Initial indications for mechanical compaction are favourable so it is hoped this can be introduced more widely across the HWRC network in the near future, which will allow a greater level of compaction than was previously achievable manually". On the question of cost, according to the spokesman, it is difficult to quantify the exact cost of changing a skip as it would be dependant on the weight and material inside but, "an average figure of £725 is probably excessive". In seeking to clarify the situation over disposal of rubbish, the spokesman disputed the claim that site users are no longer allowed to walk up to skips. "While customers may request help to carry items if they need it, they remain free to take things to the skips themselves." She added: "Site staff are employed and incentivised to segregate as much recyclable waste as possible in order to divert it from landfill, so if they see an item of furniture for example that can be placed in the sales area, then please be assured that they will put it to one side." According to HCC, the new contract with Hopkins Recycling was developed with the primary aim of improving the service for all householders. Hopkins, which already operates 15 sites in the county, has signed up to providing a strong customer focus and to making the sites quicker and easier to use for local householders. HCC executive member for environment Mel Kendal said that the new contract will herald changes for the better: "As a result, from next month plans are in place to restrict trade waste, to make the site quicker and easier for householders to use.
