Recycling cycles and more in Bicester

Oxfordshire County Council has teamed up with Bicester Green sustainability centre and Viridor to ensure that bikes and furniture are saved from becoming waste.

Staff at Ardley Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC), which is operated by recycling company Viridor through a contract with Oxfordshire County Council, have been putting aside bikes and furniture that customers have brought to the site.

The items are then collected by Bicester Green - a project set up a year ago with the aim of repairing and refurbishing items for resale locally.

County Councillor David Nimmo Smith, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet member for environment, said: “The success of this partnership is really heartening as it is always better that something is reused than thrown away, even if it is recycled.

“I hope that we will see more and more bikes and furniture finds its way through Bicester Green and back into more local homes.”

Bicester Green manager, Emma Gordon, said: “We are pleased to be able to work with the team at Ardley to give unwanted items a new lease of life.

“At Bicester Green we have a team of volunteers training in bike mechanics and furniture restoration so we can turn one person’s trash into another person’s treasure! Last week we picked up some furniture in the morning and by the afternoon it had been sold, which is fantastic.”

Colin Clews from Ardley HWRC said: “Customers often bring good quality items or things which could be used again with just some small repairs, so it’s good to see that Bicester Green is able to collect these and work on them so that they can find a new home.”

Bicester Green, Unit 2 McKay Trading Estate, Bicester, is open on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10am-5pm. New volunteers and donations of bikes, furniture and electrical items are always welcome. For more information visit www.bicestergreen.org.uk or call 07591 754 787.

Ardley HWRC, Brackley Road, Ardley, is open from 8am-5pm 7 days a week, and until 8pm on a Thursday until the end of September. For more information on waste and recycling in Oxfordshire visit www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/waste or call 08450 50 45 50.