Will Herts County Council Close Your Local Recycling Centre ?

The county council is asking for residents to complete a survey online or paper copy available from libraries or the recycling centres (TIP)

Recycling centres consultation

We would like your views on options to deliver financial savings in the Recycling Centre Service and to help protect our staff from abuse in the workplace.

If you cannot complete the consultation online, you can obtain a paper copy from your local recycling centre. You can also visit a Hertfordshire library where there are computers available and support on how to access the consultation online.

Background

We provide 16 recycling centres and five reuse shops across the county. The service is under increasing pressure with rising costs, visitor numbers, commercial waste abuse and new rules and regulations for operation.

A recent survey reported almost 100% of front-line staff receive regular verbal or physical abuse. This cannot be acceptable, and we want to support our staff in the workplace.
 

Why we are asking for your views

We are under significant financial pressure, including the rising costs of meeting social care needs. It costs us around £13 million to run the recycling centre service each year and we need to ensure the service is operated as efficiently as possible to support the financial challenge. 

Previous proposals to help manage the service pressures involved reducing operating days at four centres and introducing a booking system for all visits. These proposals were cancelled, and we would like your views on some potential alternative approaches to ensure the service remains sustainable and continues to meet the needs of residents.

Responses to this consultation will help inform a future decision in early 2026.