Household Waste Recycling Centres

Thank you to everyone who shared their views on our household waste recycling centres (HWRCs). We received 306 responses to this survey and a total of 688 responses across the first two waves of this survey between November 2025 and June 2026. Following the first survey we have again categorised the feedback into the areas below to help us build on our knowledge and insights:

Visitor Frequency

One third of all respondents across both surveys, visited a HWRC either monthly or every 3 months. 10% visited fortnightly and 39 respondents visited weekly - suggesting the sites overall continue to be well used.

Types of waste brought to HWRCs

The most common types of waste disposed across both surveys, is general waste and carpets, followed by garden waste. Also popular is paper/cardboard and wood/plasterboard. 15% of visitors would like to recycle more materials which they believe they can’t currently. Items mentioned included asbestos, batteries, books, chemicals and solvents, coffee pods. Others mentioned having reuse shops on site, to take items that still have use, would be helpful.

Customer satisfaction and experience

Satisfaction levels are positive for all aspects of the sites and the service provided. 82% of respondents are overall satisfied with their recent visit to the HWRC. The main areas of satisfaction are customer service, staff politeness, site cleanliness and ease of use. Areas for improvement to supported increased satisfaction across both surveys, are queue times, site layout and site size/capacity.

Information and communication

The council website is the most common place people would look for HWRC information. Almost three fifths of respondents across both surveys are aware they can view updates on the council’s website about how busy the HWRC is. On-site signage continues to be important for source of information. Most respondents across both surveys thought signage around the HWRCs was very clear or fairly clear (83%). We have also gained feedback regarding areas where signage could be better including issues with faded writing and lack of clarity on some signs. Durham County News, social media, and link to a website are also the top 3 preferred methods for receiving information about the waste and recycling process.

Waste Permit Scheme

The majority of respondents across both surveys do not use the waste permit scheme. Of those that do use the scheme, over half are either very satisfied or fairly satisfied with the scheme. Areas of improvement focus on permit limits and vehicle restrictions. Vehicle restrictions are however normal practice at HWRCs used to control volume of waste, prevent commercial waste, ensure public safety plus and manage queues and times that customers spend on site.

Demographics information

688 people completed the survey across two survey periods. 55% were female, 40% male. The largest age group was 55–64 years (28%), followed by 45–54 and 65–74 (20% each). Feedback within this category continues to highlight the importance of providing accessible sites with clear signage to specifically support site users who have a disability.

Site differences

Most visitors are “local” to their chosen HWRC, although some sites had a significant proportion of “non-local” users. Some sites score higher on satisfaction than others and the feedback related to individual sites gives us a good understanding of how specific sites are performing and their areas of improvement.

Areas for improvement:

Overall, the feedback shows positive levels of satisfaction with the HWRCs. Future improvements will focus on:

• Enhancing customer information such as improved signage: we will replace faded signs.
• Improving operational issues such as queuing, looking at how site layouts could be improved - we must consider what is achievable operational at the sites. Waiting times are also available on the council the website to help reduce frustrations around this.
• Considering extra facilities such as more skips, more unloading bays, resale area.
• Better supporting accessibility needs such as lower skips and safer steps.
• Building on customer service and improving assistance - customers are given assistance when it is requested but we can improve awareness of this help.
• Increasing awareness of available services -we currently offer recycling for batteries, books, chemicals and coffee pods at most sites. Something such as asbestos cannot be recycled but we offer disposal of that at the 4 hazardous waste HWRCs. Coffee pods recycling is on 6 sites, we will look into rolling this out at all sites.
• Exploring opportunities to support reuse and recycling initiatives with better information around this.

Service developments and next steps

There are a number of initiatives we have begun to support recycling and reuse, as noted as an area of importance within the feedback such as:

• Working closely with HW Martin Waste Limited, regarding our ability to provide more re-use facilities and drop off points for various materials.
• Teamed up with County Durham Furniture Help Scheme to donate good quality sofas, white goods and electrical items to County Durham Furniture Help Scheme from the HWRCs.
• Started several re-use schemes with HW Martin Waste Limited, such as donating books to our libraries, and working with Re-play to re-use and re-furbish football boots.
• Started working with Medequip to re-use medical equipment and we work with Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) to donate items for school playgrounds.
• Working with a local nursery to create a sensory garden and outdoor space using items from the HWRCs, such as timber to make planters, re-using plant pots, garden tools, making planters out of baths, tyres etc and even painting sheds etc using second hand paint.
• Introduced free paint giveaway at all sites to re-use paint.

Looking ahead more broadly, we will be using all the feedback received across both surveys as part of a wider review of HMRCs. This review will begin this year, and we will update residents and those who use HWRCs, regarding outcomes from this work in due course through our council website. Any further consultation regarding this review will also be made available on Let’s Talk County Durham.