Heatwave leads to early recycling collections and waste fires

Millions of residents have been asked to put their bins out for collection earlier than usual as a heatwave engulfs most of England and Wales. Residents have been asked to help refuse workers avoid carrying bins during the hottest parts of the day by putting bins out early, in particular on next Monday and Tuesday, when the hottest temperatures are expected. Wokingham Borough Council said from Monday collections will start an hour earlier at 5.30am, to “protect our crew from the extreme heat”, as did Mole Valley District Council.

Braintree District Council urged residents to put bins out the previous night to the their normal collection day, while Three Rivers District Council – in south-west Hertfordshire – said bins should be out by 5am at latest. Fenland residents were asked to put bins in place any 5.30am instead of the usual 7am “to help crews cope with the high temperatures” by shortening the period during which they would work in the hottest part of the day. Several London boroughs also implemented earlier collections with Redbridge telling residents bins would be collected from 5am next Monday and Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a series of waste related fires have been reported around the country as dry conditions worsened normal dangers. The Mirror has reported a huge fire at a recycling centre at Brandon, on the Norfolk and Suffolk boundary, “causing thick black smoke to billow across the sky`”. South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service has battled a blaze at a recycling centre in Ginhouse Lane, Rotherham, which saw one man taken to hospital with burns, the BBC has reported.

The Hull Daily Mail has covered a fire at the premises of Transwaste in Melton, Hull, which it said needed four fire crews and an aerial platform truck.

“Large plumes of smoke” have been reported by the Manchester Evening News at a landfill site in Dawson Lane, Chorley, with 15 fire engines from both Lancashire and Greater Manchester present.

An electrical fault was thought to be the cause fo a fire at Premier Recycling in Great Yarmouth, which the Great Yarmouth Mercury said this was the conclusion of both Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service and Premier Recycling manager Darren Docwra.