Residents will be able to plan their visits to Lincolnshire's Household Waste Recycling Centres with the new system, which opens for bookings on 30 November. The change is being implemented to help manage visits more effectively as the centres are experiencing increased demand, leading to queues and congestion both within the sites and on surrounding roads during peak times.
The booking system is designed to spread visits more evenly throughout the day, reducing pressure during busy periods and ensuring smoother traffic flow. The council assures that there will be sufficient capacity to accommodate current visitor numbers, with the aim of better managing existing demand rather than restricting access.
Councillor Danny Brookes, Executive Member for Environment at Lincolnshire County Council, stated, "We know how important our recycling centres are to residents and we want visiting them to be as straightforward and consistent as possible. Our sites are getting busier and one of the challenges we see is large numbers of vehicles arriving at the same time. That can mean queues within the sites and, at some locations, traffic building up on the roads outside. Booking will allow us to spread those visits more evenly across the day. This isn't about stopping people using our recycling centres – there will be sufficient capacity for the number of residents currently visiting our sites – it's about managing those visits better."
He added, "We'll be sharing plenty of information over the coming weeks, so residents know exactly what they need to do before the system comes into effect." Residents will be able to book visits up to two weeks in advance, selecting a 15-minute time slot, their chosen recycling centre, date, time, vehicle type, and the types of waste they are bringing.
Confirmation of bookings will be sent via email or text message, with options to amend or cancel if plans change. Residents unable to book online can do so through the county council's customer call centre. Bookings open on 30 November for visits required from 7 December.
