New Stirling Road Recycling Centre Won't Take Household Waste

Residents will only be allowed to dispose of items that can be reused

The former Stirling Road Refuse and Reuse Centre remains closed

April 15, 2024

Ealing Council has clarified that the reopening recycling facility on Stirling Road in South Acton won’t be taking household or garden waste.

Previously residents had been able to drive in to dispose of waste in large containers, but the new ReActon Circular Economy Hub, which is due to open this July, will only have smaller disposal units which will take items like textiles and glass. Containers for these kinds of recycling are already in place at the site.

It is planned there will be a number of organisations who specialise in reuse and repair based within the centre and workshops on recycling will be offered. Food that would otherwise go to waste will be given away. The council says there will be opportunities for volunteering, work placements and apprenticeships.

A council spokesperson said, “Bringing together inspiring organisations and charities, Ealing Council and West London Waste Authority have transformed the old Acton waste depot on Stirling Road into a space for residents to repair, reuse and recycle electronics, bicycles, furniture, clothes, and lots more. The new centre does not accept general household and garden waste.

“We provide a top-quality waste and recycling collection service from peoples’ homes, and we are consistently in the top three in London when it comes to rates of recycling.”

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs figures for the year to March 2023 show 82,970 tonnes of waste were collected by Ealing Council in the year to March 2023 of which 48.4% was sent for reuse, recycling or composting up from 47.6% from the year before. Figures for earlier years suggested that Ealing had the highest rate for dry recycling (i.e. excluding garden waste) in London.

The council says that the new facility, which is being run in partnership with West London Waste, will be the first of its kind in the UK. It recently closed the tender for bids to build temporary structures at the site which are meant to be in place for five years.

Recycling bins are already in place at the site

The Hub is expected to be open to the public from July when training and education provision will begin and a shop selling recycled items will open. A series of community events will begin culminating in a circular economy festival in October. A café is planned for the site in September.

The former tip closed in November 2021 with all staff being laid off and the council saying it intended to sell the site. Reports from local business owners in the area said that they proposed buyer was a storage company but the sale fell through for reasons that were never explained. For Chiswick residents, difficulties caused by the closure were exacerbated by the removal of the recycling bins from the Sainsbury’s car park around the same time.

Cllr Gary Malcolm, leader of the opposition on Ealing Council said, "The Liberal Democrats say that Ealing Council closed the Acton tip to save money, then the sale fell through to causing lots of unnecessary fly tips and now Labour are trying to reinvent themselves. They should have discussed this earlier rather than trying to present it as a win when they initially failed by closing it. I understand that, despite the plans for the site to be rebadged, it may have contamination on it, and this is rumoured to be why the land could not be sold. I have asked some questions of the Council on this to uncover the truth beneath the Council's curious change of plans for this site that was well loved as a plain and simple tip."

The council says that residents can take bulky household waste, garden waste, and recycling to its tip in Greenford which is open Friday to Tuesday (including weekends and bank holidays), from 8am to 4pm. Ealing residents are also allowed to use facilities in neighbour boroughs such as the one on Townmead Road in Richmond.