Recycling Centre reopens

Marlborough’s Recycling Centre is up and running again after a devastating fire.

The November 2025 blaze caused widespread damage and forced the closure of the plant, but recycling continued and, earlier this year, a temporary local site was found for full processing.

Councillor Cyril Dawson opened the repaired facility saying it was great to have it back up and running and encouraged all residents to use it to reduce items going to landfill.

“Check what can be recycled on the Council website and please make an effort to recycle as much as possible,” he said.

A key focus is ensuring items are clean, to make life easier for the sorting line staff.

“It’s no fun for them to deal with contaminated items,” Mr Dawson said. “We need to ensure the staff are protected - they should not have to deal with dirty or dangerous items like syringes. Also, all batteries, especially lithium, must go to the Hazardous Waste site. The last thing we need is another fire.”

Council’s Waste Assessment 2026’s vision for waste minimisation in Marlborough aims to continue to divert goods from landfill and reduce contamination in recycling.

People are encouraged to ensure recycling items are clean, which means rinsing and taking off the lids. Metal and plastic lids cannot be recycled in the kerbside collection but there are bins at the recycling centre for them.

For a full list of what can and cannot be recycled go to councils website

The opening of the centre coincides with national Recycling Week which runs from Monday 19 October. Keep an eye out for Seymour Square’s fountain and clock tower going green for the week.