Nearly two months have passed since the United Kingdom introduced restrictions to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus. With these vital measures came unprecedented challenges for a range of sectors which we all rely upon every day, including the recycling and waste management sector.
Thanks to the hard work of tens of thousands of people employed in our industry, we are proud to say that household refuse collections have been maintained across the UK so far and only a small number of recycling services have been affected.
At the time of writing, we are almost two months into a national lockdown. Though the weeks may have felt long, all our lives have changed more quickly than many of us could have imagined.
... Whilst we seek safety and shelter inside, there are those who have little choice but to continue serving their community. And they do so quietly, often before you or I have had a chance to make our morning coffee. These men and women are our essential workers – our delivery drivers, retail shop workers, farm workers, and of course our bin crews.
As we informed all our members, yesterday evening: at 9.30 this morning (13 May) the UK Government amended “The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020” with “The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020”.
Among other important variations to the original regulations this now makes a visit the HWRC a reasonable excuse in law to leave the house. THIS APPLIES ONLY IN ENGLAND.
WRAP works with over a hundred Local Authorities and we would like to thank you for the fantastic job that you and your key workers are doing out in our communities at this time.
We are still open for business in this ‘new normal’ and our team of Local Authority Advisors are working remotely and available to provide support and advice – you can contact the team at la.support@wrap.org.uk.
There aren't many times as waste and recycling managers we find ourselves collectively in the eye of a national storm, but the closure of HWRC sites in the wake of the lockdown announcement of 23 March may prove to be one. The previous weekend had seen a tsunami of residents assailing the gates of HWRC sites up and down the land, either in an effort to dispose of the efforts of their furious domestic gardening and spring cleaning after the first period of self-isolation, or a fear that we were going to close the "tip" imminently.