Is it time for recycling centres to be deemed essential?

With fly-tipping on the rise, we should be doing all we can to keep waste to a minimum, writes Janet Street-Porter

It's important we don't let rubbish pile up – something is going to have to change soon (Getty)

Stuck at home, sick of repeats on telly and fed up with a restricted diet? Maybe it’s time for that clear out you’ve been procrastinating over for far too long. It may seem simple enough, but what do you with all the unwanted clothing, gadgets, old mattresses and bags of garden waste when most of the country is on lockdown?

Councils say there’s been a 300 per cent increase in the amount of rubbish we’re generating, at a time when the workforce is hampered by illness and some collections have even been reduced in certain areas. Greater Manchester is dealing with the problem by recruiting 45 temporary binmen to deal with the increased demand.

The knock-on effect of closing recycling centres thanks to coronavirus is a massive increase in flytipping – with roadside verges, and supermarket recycling areas strewn with rotting rubbish all over the country. Should recycling centres be deemed essential and reopened, even with a reduced staff?

Charity shops have been closed, and now their doorways are piled high with clothes – who is going to remove all that stuff before it’s a health hazard? We need to think before we bin things. Some items could be resold on eBay or given away using websites like Gumtree. Just because we no longer have a need for them doesn’t mean objects have to rot in a landfill.

Garden waste and rotten food could be composted, although why the government decided to close garden centres is a mystery to me because they perform a valuable service and are just as important as off-licences, which remain open!