Extra appointments at Swindon's Household Waste Recycling Centre

There has been a change to the online booking system at the Household Waste Recycling Centre.

An extra 16 booking slots an hour are available to residents who wish to take their excess waste to the recycling depot by car.

The increase in capacity is the latest improvement to the booking system, which was first introduced in May last year to enable people to dispose of essential waste in a socially-distanced way.

An extra 800 slots a week are available for residents, and a new check-in system will be in place for visitors in a few weeks’ time to make the process quicker and easier.

Restrictions on the number of appointments residents can book each month have been removed and customers can now cancel or amend their booking at any time via the council’s website, with those slots being made available in real time for residents looking to book an appointment.

Cllr Kevin Parry, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Service Delivery, Waste and Transport, said: “We have received really positive feedback since the online booking system was introduced because people no longer have to wait in long queues and can dispose of their waste in a less busy environment.

“Our main priority throughout the pandemic has been to keep people safe and that will remain the case, but we also have to respond to the needs of local residents who have been keen to see more slots made available for them to use.

“The additional 800 appointments we will now provide each week will go some way to satisfying the extra demand. 

"I would also urge anyone who books an appointment but cannot make it to cancel it on our online booking system as the slot will instantly be made available for someone else to use.”

People can book an appointment for the Household Waste Recycling Centre at www.swindon.gov.uk/hwrc