Warwickshire County Council Recycling Centre Survey

Warwickshire County Council is responsible for the operation of nine household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) in Warwickshire (https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/hwrc).

The centres provide householders with a place to donate and buy reusable items, recycle a wide range of materials and dispose of waste. Between December 2023 and February 2024 views were sought from residents on the reuse shops located at eight of the recycling centres, the booking system in place to book an appointment to visit a HWRC and their most recent experience when using a centre.

There were 1,552 responses to the survey. 

Use of reuse shops

Browsing or purchasing items 

• Of the 1,552 respondents, 61.3% had visited a reuse shop in Warwickshire to browse or purchase goods.  
• The majority of respondents (86.6%) when giving an overall opinion of reuse shops were either very satisfied or satisfied.
• Respondents were asked to list any improvements they would like to see at the reuse shops. The most common themes were: parking, covering outdoor items and Improved organisation of items. 

Donating items 

• Of the 1,552 respondents, 68.9% of respondents had donated to a reuse shop.
• The most common reason selected as a reason for donating was ‘Reuse is better for the environment than buying new’ (82.5%), followed by ‘Support a local charity’ (71.1%). 
• When asked to comment on their experience of depositing reuse items and any improvements you would like to see the themes most frequently mentioned were good staff, ease of donating and improved parking. 

Visits to a Household Waste Recycling Centre 

• Of the 1,552 respondents, 93% had visited a HWRC in Warwickshire since May 2020. 
• Over a quarter of respondents had visited the site at Wellesbourne (26.3%)
• When asked how often they typically would visit a household waste recycling centre, most respondents (80.3%) said they would visit between once a month to every 4 to 6 months, with the most common response being once every 2-3 months (33.7%). 
• The car was the most common mode of transport for the most recent visit to a HWRC (97.3%). 

Use of the booking system 

• Of the 1,444 respondents who had visited a HWRC, 78.2% had made a booking for their most recent visit. 
• When asked if they were able to book their preferred site, the majority of respondents (98.1%) said yes.  Most respondents were also able to book their preferred day/date (93.4%) or time (90.1%). 
• Most respondents (86.2%) used the Eventbrite website to make their booking. 
• Two-thirds of respondents (66.1%) said it was either easy or very easy to make their booking.
• The 315 respondents who did not have a booking were asked why they chose not to make a booking for their most recent visit. Over half of respondents (55.9%) indicated that they did not think that booking was required any longer. 
• All respondents were asked ‘Would you support the continuation of the booking system, which helps to prevent queues from building up outside of the recycling centres?’. Just over half of respondents (55%) supported continuation of the booking system, as it is or with improvements. 

Satisfaction with HWRC sites visited

• For all aspects the majority of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied. 

The aspects where there were a higher proportion of respondents saying they were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied were approachability of staff (11.9%), greeting received (9.2%), and advice provided by staff (8.3%).

The results of the survey will be used to will help us to improve physical elements of sites where needed – e.g. signage or cleanliness.

We have also considered your feedback on other potential areas where the household waste recycling centre service can be improved, including booking.

We will use this feedback to inform our ongoing management of our Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) and the services that are offered at them.