Last year, residents of Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham Boroughs made over 550,000 visits to the re3 Recycling Centres at Longshot Lane, Bracknell and Island Road, Reading.
Most of these trips are quick and easy, allowing us to recycle materials that would otherwise go to waste.
But Recycling Centres are potentially hazardous.
FCC Environment, which operates two re3 Recycling Centres on behalf of Bracknell, Reading and Wokingham Councils, is keen to help residents stay safe on site by launching a new website and providing residents with information and advice while warning of some of the risks.
Sort before you visit:
Pre-sorting your items at home can help you get in and out of your Recycling Centre quickly and efficiently.
Avoid slips, trips and falls: be aware of your footwear:
In summer’s warmer weather, you may be sporting flip flops or sandals and in winter you might be wearing muddy boots – but take care and make sure you are in more suitable footwear when visiting your Recycling Centre. You just don’t know what may have fallen on the ground where you’re walking, or who might drop something heavy, so sensible shoes are a must and bare feet are definitely not allowed!
Follow the signs:
On arrival, a member of staff will meet and greet you and guide you to the appropriate disposal bays. These are clearly laid out and signed to help you find them.
Keep kids and pets in vehicles:
With cars, vans and trucks reversing and bulky items being moved around, it’s important that children of all ages (from toddlers to teens), as well as pets, stay in your vehicle for their own safety. Children are often keen to be green and help out at the Recycling Centre – but sorting through your materials at home can help to keep them engaged with recycling, as well as safe.
FCC environment operations director Steve Longdon said: “we welcome hundreds of thousands of people to the sites that we run each year and most visits are without incident but we want to do even better and reduce accidents, slips and trips even further so I urge the public to look at the posters on-site, or just log onto https://staysafe.fccenvironment.co.uk/ for lots of hints and tips about how to have a safe visit.”
re3 is a waste management partnership which is responsible for arranging the disposal of household waste collected across Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham Boroughs working together with FCC Environment.
This includes recyclable waste and general waste collected at the kerbside, at the two Recycling Centres, glass banks and street cleaning.
