Oakley Wood waste recycling centre near Wallingford reopened after £700,000 upgrade (From The Oxford Times)

Oakley Wood waste recycling centre near Wallingford reopened after £700,000 upgrade

10:45am Monday 29th June 2009 in

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RECYCLING has resumed with redoubled efforts at Oakley Wood waste recyling centre near Wallingford after a £700,000 upgrade of the centre.

Oxfordshire County Council has doubled the number of containers and parking bays to reduce queuing times at the centre.

County councillor Ian Hudspeth, cabinet member for growth and infrastructure, officially reopened the site last Friday — the last day of National Recycle Week — and the public were able to use the centre over the weekend.

Oakley Wood was closed for three months while the refurbishment took place, but reopened soon after the introduction of South Oxfordshire District Council's new waste collection service last month.

There are eight waste recycling centres in Oxfordshire and Oakley Wood ranks as the second best in terms of waste recycled by the general public.

Mr Hudspeth said: “This project has long been in the planning and it is a delight to see it come to a successful conclusion and the facility reopened to the public.

“Providing a good service is a very important element of encouraging people to recycle.

“It is one thing persuading people to take items to their waste recycling centre, it is quite another to provide them with a positive and hassle-free enough experience to persuade them to return on a routine basis.

“I believe the changes that we have made at Oakley Wood will deliver just such a positive experience and I look forward to coming days and weeks when local residents will be able to have their first experience of the new centre.”

Waste recycling centres, including Oakley Wood, are open 8am to 5pm, seven days a week.

Last month, South Oxfordshire District Council became the first authority in the county to start collecting food waste for recycling.

Fornightly collections of all raw and cooked food, including meat, fish and diary products, are taken to special recycling plants to be turned into fertiliser and to generate electricity.

Carolyn Baxter, head of waste management for Oxfordshire County Council, said: “With the new food recycling schemes starting, we’re hoping to smash the county’s 43 per cent recycling rate.

“By the end of 2010, we hope to be one of the foremost recycling counties in the UK.”