Forum Topic

Stirling Road Tip Debacle

While I'm delighted that the Stirling Road tip is going to reopen it is infuriating that it was closed in the first place for no good reason. Everyone told Ealing Council that you can't hope to increase recycling if people have nowhere to go to recycle and with the closure of the facility at Sainsbury's as well (probably a direct result of the Stirling Road closure) the practicalities of living sustainably have got more difficult.The concern at this stage is that the council, to cover up its embarrassment, won't restore the full service that was at the old facility. The touchy feely language they are using to describe the 'circular economy' centre is all very well but is it really good for the planet for people to drive there to get a pair of socks darned?

Anita Blake ● 1064d37 Comments

So I’m confused. Was the Stirling Road site not sold off? It may be reopening but not as it was before. Has it sat empty all this time?

Maggie Dodge ● 1064d

I agree, Anita.  As someone who lives in walking distance of Sterling Road, I am pleased but apprehensive.  If I recall correctly, in the dying days of the old dump access was only granted to cars so as an ex-motorist I was unable to use the facility, which I thought was mad behaviour from a council that claimed to care about the environment.  I had to rely on car-owning friends to drive my junk there.

Alastair Banton ● 1064d

Same as Greenford. No pedestrian or cycle access.

N V Brooks ● 1064d

Alastair, my Aunt was walking distance we often took bags in on foot and they never said anything.

Janice Evans ● 1064d

I think the previous restrictions at Stirling Road were Covid related.If they insist on a booking system like there is at Townmead then they may have to restrict walk ins otherwise people would just park up nearby and carry their waste in.

Anita Blake ● 1064d

Dump/Tip - waste has had by necessity to be re-thought of and used as a resource for a long time now which is why these places changed to be called Reuse & Recycling facilities what is surely more than 20 years ago. It has been heartbreaking to see good solid wooden furniture collected to be chopped, crushed and burned when it had plenty of good life in it given a bit of TLC and also to see people bringing their furniture to be 'recycled' when the facilities were not actually there for that to be done when all it needed was a little TLC.  It takes time to create new recyclate streams and markets especially when the skills needed just to make and mend things has not been maintained enough here in the UK.I very much agree about the restrictions on pedestrian and cycle access but I'm sure they would have been worried as the dangers posed to members of the public and workers by the movement of big lorries and skips is immense.  For many years the space was so tight and queues long that it was easier to stop outside for a few minutes and just walk something in - like a fluorescent strip or lightbulbs.

Philippa Bond ● 1064d

Greenford is appointment only with NO pedestrian access.I would expect Sterling Road to be 'pedestrian friendly' given that Ealing hope to run reuse classes and also allow collection of surplus food.

N V Brooks ● 1064d

I doubt this new facility has been properly thought through. Is there to be a defined state that an item has to be in to be accepted? The purpose of the facility as it was enabled people to take badly damaged or broken items there and dispose of them in a place where they (we are told) would be recycled if possible. Unfortunately most people’s rubbish is, well, rubbish.If stuff is deemed to be beyond repair at this new facility will people be turned away? It will just end up in landfill if that happens.What didn’t help before was charging people for DIY items. One presumes all items will be accepted free of charge.

Simon Hayes ● 1064d

Business waste is chargeable as it is not paid for in Business Rates the way that some residential waste is.  This has always been a problem with many businesses trying not to pay anything for the disposal of their waste.  The answer is not to make waste and finding a way to create a new resource stream out of any waste that you make.  More innovators and those with skills needed!https://www.timesnownews.com/the-buzz/article/this-luxury-handbag-is-made-of-orange-peels-see-pictures-and-video/847598 

Philippa Bond ● 1064d

DIY material isn’t ‘business waste’. There’s a big difference between a van full of rubble or timber and a homeowner taking an unwanted door to be recycled. My neighbour had that experience and was told he would have to pay to leave it at Stirling Road (after queuing for an hour to get in). He took it home, chopped it up and put it in his dustbin.I’m not sure how you can not ‘make waste’. Things wear out, break or just need to be upgraded. A lot of people don’t like the idea of pre-owned furniture either. We always donate furniture to the BHF but even they won’t take certain things.

Simon Hayes ● 1064d

Em, the spread of bed bugs etc.,

Janice Evans ● 1064d

Disposing of light bulbs?Ikea at Hammersmith have a facility. Disposing of soft plastics?M&S at Richmond take it(No longer at Chiswick sadly)Co-Op at Gunnersbury Station takesoft plastics too.Hard plastics? I've no idea!Recycling guidance is awful.

Jim Lawes ● 1064d

Since Stirling Road disappeared we have been using Townmead. It's brilliant and far friendlier than Stirling Road ever was. Appointment only but it means you don't queue to get in and there is always a space for you.

Chris Blackwell ● 1064d

Stirling Road was so handy because we could work a visit in to another trip for instance we would take a few things when we went with the dog to Gunnersbury Park. For us, on the north side of the High Road, Townmead was a real faff particularly if you didn't get an early morning slot at the weekend. The traffic coming back was always pretty bad.

Anita Blake ● 1064d

A clear and comprehensive 'how to recycle' video here:https://youtu.be/57JWhBOUnTI

Guy Lambert ● 1064d

With all this recycling and re-use instead of buying new, what happens to our much vaunted ‘growth economy’?

Peter Evans ● 1064d

Info isn't really that awful for household recycling and it has improved a lot as the variety of stuff collected has increased.  One of the biggest problems is that the kerbside collections tend to differ a bit from one Council to another as it is market orientated and depends on the contracts achieved.  You just need to see what your Council's website says and I've in the past printed off info for new neighbours - although you may be able to get something from your Council.An awful lot of work has been done with packaging and articles are often now designed for recycling at the end of their life.  So there are far fewer things made of mixed materials.  I wish more appreciation was given to some of the really clever single material packaging we now get!You can dispose of a lot of electrical and electronic items at the shop where you buy a new one.  This generally includes includes light bulbs and batteries and sometimes there is £5 off a new and different purchase.Hounslow takes small electricals in a carrier bag with their  kerbside collection and Ealing has some street electrical recycling banks for smaller items.  There's lots of info on both councils' websites.There are lots of online marketplaces and there's Next Door and this website and www.trashnothing.com (an easy interface for Freecyle/Freegle).The food waste bin is brilliant and weekly and you soon learn how to save money and make less waste by shopping, cooking and keeping your food better.  A tip from a winner at a Sam's Brasserie competition was to not buy anything unless you knew several ways to cook/use it. That way if you can't cope with the more complicated recipe you can with a less complicated one.The residual waste wheelie or black bin bag just takes the stuff that another home can't be found for.

Philippa Bond ● 1064d

You are right that different councils have different things they recycle. Outside London it’s even more confused.I’m surprised that there’s no battery recycling in Hounslow. Ealing do that. Perhaps they should have a separate small box for that.Despite all the advertising and moralising the biggest barrier to recycling is laziness. If it’s a bind to do it, people won’t. Principle of least effort applies.Of course the best way to save the planet is simply to consume less of everything. Not much chance of that in the iPhone/Cloud age.

Simon Hayes ● 1064d

What sort of batteries?  I've just taken a whole lot of household ones to Robert Dyas and by law all those shops which sell over a certain amount of them have to recycle them.  There used to be a container just inside the entrance from the car park at the big Sainsbury's in Chiswick.  Other supermarkets take them and also Boots the Chemists and DIY shops and Curry's.They can catch fire when damaged in a waste lorry - and I remember my pocket getting hot when I forgot to take some out before I took them to be recycled...

Philippa Bond ● 1064d

Unfortunately, most people don’t really think about bagging them up and carrying them about on the off chance they are going to a shop that recycles them.B&Q recycle light bulbs and other small items but they need to put the bins for these by the entrance rather than the exit. Suggestion has been made.

Simon Hayes ● 1064d

Yes, you need to ask.  There was one shop I used to visit where they sold loads of them but I couldn't find where they were collecting the used ones - until I asked - and they were inside a drawer behind the tills...

Philippa Bond ● 1064d

there appears to be no mention of green garden waster being accepted.  Previously two containers were required to cope with the demand.  this should be taken into account when  creating the 'circular economy'

jill morris ● 1062d

The council want you to sign up for the collection service?

Peter King ● 1062d

The next Acton Market Repair & Reuse Hub event is on Saturday 4 November from 10am - 3pmhttp://www.ealingtoday.co.uk/default.asp?section=community&link=http://appasp.EalingToday.co.uk/server/app/forum/default.asp?site=2They are doing great things to help people to reduce their waste.I notice from the Hounslow No Time to Waste campaign that LBH too are managing to help people to recycle more and waste a lot less.

Philippa Bond ● 1062d

That is because, as far as I know, there is no facility for garden waste or domestic waste anywhere other than at the Greenford Recycling Centre within the London Borough of Ealing.

N V Brooks ● 1062d

I was interested to see that Superdrug in Hammersmith (but maybe elsewhere too) take empty blister packs that held tablets.  Will definitely make use of this from now on.

Vivienne Cox ● 1062d

I know of neighbours sharing a kerbside garden waste collection.  I only used to take garden waste to Stirling Road about twice a year - so paying for a kerbside collection wasn't very palatable - but a shared one is more so.

Philippa Bond ● 1062d

If the Stirling Road site belongs to the Council, their priority should be to build social housing on it rather than to try and sell it or set up this new ‘reuse’ centre. This seems to offer nothing as useful or practical as the previous ‘dump’ where you could just ‘get rid of’ things which were then disposed of appropriately. I’m tired of dealing with charities who offer to take things for reuse but then get understandably picky about a sofa or a washing machine and won’t take it. It seems the same might happen at this new facility, with unwanted stuff not being ‘good enough’, so we’ll still have to trek to Greenford to ‘get rid’ of it.

Peter Evans ● 1061d

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/07/stop-wishcycling-and-get-wise-how-to-recycle-almost-everything#:~:text=Pill%20blister%20packs,-This%20is%20tricky&text=%E2%80%9CBecause%20it's%20pharmaceutical%2C%20it's%20very,says%20Adam%20Herriott%20of%20Wrap.It's absolutely true we have become fixated with the end of use instead of paying more attention to Reducing our consumption by choosing more carefully to eliminate excess waste and the Reuse of what we no longer want. There is mention of the problematical blister packs in the above and Superdrug in Ealing Broadway also collects these but not sure where they send them (and the collection box is often full).

Philippa Bond ● 1061d

Darning Socks?  Why drive there?  There's lot of help online and Japanese sashiko is very popular but you'd look pretty daft eating it.The next Acton Market Repair & Reuse Hub event is on Saturday 4 November from 10am - 3pm on the Mount in ActonCheck out the Ealing Today website.http://www.ealingtoday.co.uk/default.asp?section=community&link=http://appasp.EalingToday.co.uk/server/app/forum/default.asp?site=2

Philippa Bond ● 1059d

It'll be interesting to see if they reintroduce garden waste collection at Stirling Road. Ealing Council seem to be being very non-specific about exactly what services will be on offer.They probably thought that there would be a financial benefit from closing Stirling Road in the number of people paying for green bag collection. If my road is anything to go by not many people have done and so, if people have a garden they must be taking waste to Greenford or Townmead.Recycling rates are calculated by weight so not having the garden and other recycled materials collected at Stirling Road is probably one of the reasons why Ealing has had such problems getting its recycling rates up in recent years. That could explain the about turn.S

Mark Evans ● 1059d

I've always understood that there was a lot of commercial waste going through Stirling Road which should not have been as it was supposed to be for residential waste only  - the disposal of which is included in Council Tax.  Of course the Councils are going to prefer people to pay for garden waste as it helps to pay for waste disposal in general as there are already so many collection costs and gate fees.  They didn't each come up with the idea it was a recommendation from Consultants which had unforeseen consequences.  Unfortunately many of us don't have big enough gardens to create much and so just won't feel inclined to pay for a service we hardly use.  Sharing it if and when you can makes it much more worthwhile.As for recycling rates in Ealing - huge wheelie bins do not encourage recycling.  Many Councils reduced the sizes of their residual waste bins whereas in Ealing it was a fight to get smaller bins.    Using the food waste bin makes a tremendous difference and at last it appears Govt has decided that every household should be provided with these.  Here is something on the disposal of batteries which are a growing problem with the number of fires they cause:https://resource.co/article/esa-warns-zombie-batteries-halloween

Philippa Bond ● 1057d

I don't remember vans belong allowed in Philippa, unless they were during the week, we only went Sundays.

Janice Evans ● 1057d

You can't actually define the origin of waste by the vehicle it is delivered in and has become even harder with WFH.Recycling has also changed with a decreasing number of people reading paper paper newspapers and increased online access to news and more paperless offices and working online.  A huge increase in cardboard from online purchases but hopefully much less expanded polystyrene packaging.  Luckily an increasing amount of easy to flatten and recycle packaging (a deliberate 'design for recycling' policy so if something doesn't seem to be question it!)Newspapers are very heavy so the recycling measurement by weight is an out of date method for this as well as garden waste.

Philippa Bond ● 1054d

True, but the amount of visits would be a sign it was commercial waste

Janice Evans ● 1054d

Agreed and if they are using ANPR easier to tell.

Philippa Bond ● 1050d

I wouldn't know if they were at the time most are using them now.

Janice Evans ● 1049d