First phase almost complete – Keynsham Recycling Site (Pixash Lane) update

B&NES Council has shared that work is almost finished on the first phase of the Keynsham Recycling Hub, which will see the new Reuse and Recycling Centre open later in the spring (SPC has heard it may be around April).

B&NES has stated that the new recycling centre will offer improved facilities for residents; more recycling bays and the option to recycle additional materials including mattresses and hard plastics, together with separation of other items such as upholstered furniture for appropriate treatment.

Plans are being developed for its reuse shop, due to open later in the year, to provide cost-effective pre-loved items for sale and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

Once the new centre is open, the current site in Pixash Lane will close to be developed as part of Phase 2 of Keynsham Recycling Hub.

The current Keynsham Recycling Centre in Pixash Lane will be open as usual over Easter, the opening hours can be found on the B&NES council website.

Public access to the new Reuse and Recycling centre will be via World’s End Lane, which has been widened to a two-way road with a dedicated cycle path and footpath. Visitors to the new reuse and recycling centre will be advised to use the signposted route via Broadmead Lane roundabout and Ashmead Road.

All council operational vehicles will use a separate site entrance in Pixash Lane. There will be parking restrictions along Pixash Lane, World’s End Lane and a stretch of Ashmead Road to ease traffic flows, while the separate entrances will improve operating efficiency and safety of the hub.

Phase 2 of the construction is due to be completed over the winter. This includes extensive buildings and yard areas to consolidate collections, disposal, and recycling processing operations and to accommodate the council’s highway winter services. It will also provide a central depot for refuse and recycling collection vehicles alongside a fleet workshop and a public MOT centre. The offices, staff welfare and education facilities will also be fitted out.

When complete, B&NES Council states that the new Keynsham Recycling Hub will expand public recycling provision, provide modern, easily accessible waste and recycling services and make it easier for people to recycle. It will also help to reduce general waste and operational costs for Bath & North East Somerset Council.

In line with B&NES Council’s Climate Emergency aims, the new site includes a raft of innovative measures including solar panels on the roofs of the buildings to generate power for the hub, rainwater collection to be reused for vehicle washing and plant watering and fabric first buildings constructed using energy efficient materials to minimise the energy needed to heat and cool them.

The Midland Road recycling centre in Bath will remain open until an alternative like-for-like Bath site is in place. When the Midland Road site is vacated, it will be released to build new homes supported by Homes England grant funding.

Residents can find more information about the project on the B&NES council website. Information on opening times and directions to the new Reuse and Recycling Centre will be uploaded to the website.

Farrans Construction, the contractors carrying out the works, recently donated trees and shrubs for a river side environmental project in Saltford. To find out more please see SPC’s news article ‘Re-wilding our river bank: Eighty trees and shrubs planted in Saltford’.