Rother District Council (RDC) has, without warning, removed the electrical recycling facility in Gibbet Marsh car park. This only came to light when a Rye resident asked, via Twitter, where the electric recycling bin had gone and RDC responded, "We've had a few issues with people dumping large electrical items so have had to remove this particular recycling bin. You can dispose of electrical items at household waste sites run by ESCC."
For a Rye resident now looking to recycle an old toaster or kettle they must undertake a 26 mile round trip to the ESCC recycling facility in Mountfield or travel a similar distance to New Romney recycling facility, which is run by Kent County Council.
Aside from the insurmountable issue if you don’t drive, and hence can’t recycle your electrical waste by car, it also raises questions on the environmental impact of additional car journeys just to dispose of an old iron or hair dryer.
Small electrical recycling banks have also been permanently removed from other locations across RDC including Market car park in Battle and Fullers car park in Northiam and so the bigger question is how committed is RDC to providing local recycling facilities?
Why RDC couldn't just install a larger recycling bin is anyone's guess but as you can see from the photo above, the fly tipping is already building up in Gibbet Marsh.
