Aviemore waste centre to accept more items from start of week
The range of items that can be taken to Granish waste centre will be expanded from Monday and will include non-bagged rubbish.
Larger bulky household items such as sofas, mattresses, garden tools and rolls of carpet will also be accepted at the site just north of Aviemore.
It follows the closure of the region's household waste and recycling centres on March 23 as part of lockdown.
Non-commercial vans and trailers will also be permitted at all sites. The facilities at Grantown and Kingussie are yet to reopen.
Waste such as soil, rubble, plasterboard, kitchen units, bathroom suites, doors and other similar waste from DIY activities will continue to be excluded from sites at the present time.
Councillor Allan Henderson, chair of Highland Council’s Communities and Places Committee said: “I am pleased to announce we are progressing to the next stage of re-opening the HWRC with the re-introduction of new materials and small vans and trailers.
"This will mean that all householders now have access to the sites with permitted vehicles which is a significant step forward in our recovery plan for the facilities.”
He continued: “An online booking system has been successfully piloted in Portree HWRC since June and we can now roll this out to our larger sites to help with the flow of traffic thereby reducing queuing for other site users.
“In order to reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus, it is important that we continue to ensure that social distancing measures are maintained on the sites, therefore it will be necessary to operate with some restrictions in order to manage the number of visitors on the sites.
"I would like to thank the public for their understanding and co-operation when using the facilities - by working together we can keep these sites safe for residents and protect our staff.”
The re-introduction of vans under 3.5 tonnes and trailers to dispose of permitted household waste is part of stage three of the recovery plan for the facilities enabling access to all householders where capacity of the containers allows.
An online booking system for vans and trailers is being introduced at larger sites at Alness, Dingwall, Fort William, Inverness, Nairn, Portree, Tain, Thurso and Wick.
Light bulbs (including energy efficient bulbs and fluorescent tubes) and household batteries will also be accepted at the sites from Monday.
Householders should check www.highland.gov.uk/recyclingcentres for items accepted and to see a list of Frequently Asked Questions before travelling to Granish or other sites.
