Taunton Recycling Centre is to remain closed until further notice due to a fire at the neighbouring Material Recovery Facility.
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service have said the facility (where recycling is sorted for sending out to be reprocessed) is structurally unsafe.
Due to the facility’s proximity to the Household Recycling Site, it is not currently safe to provide access to the public.
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue service continue to be in attendance, and it is likely that the fire will continue for the next couple of days. They advise residents in smoke affected areas to keep windows and doors closed.
Somerset Council are asking people not to come to site and hold on to their recycling if they can. Alternatively, residents can put it through their kerbside collections if it’s the right material or try one of the other sites if they can’t.
Wellington Recycling Site will be open for the rest of the week, as will Bridgwater (which usually closes on a Wednesday).
If Taunton remains closed, Wellington (Poole) Recycling Site will open next Monday and Tuesday (9 and 10 October).
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Fire services were called to the site in Priorswood, Taunton in the early hours of the Tuesday morning. Up to 60 firefighters and seven appliances were involved in tackling the blaze, nobody was hurt in the incident.
Cllr Dixie Darch, Lead Member for Environment and Climate Change said:
“We send our thanks to the crews from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue who promptly responded to the situation.
We continue to work with Biffa to ensure that we can provide a household waste recycling service, including additional opening days at nearby Recycling Sites.”
A spokesperson from Biffa said:
“We would like to thank the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service who are currently on site at our Taunton Recycling Centre attending to a fire.
A full investigation will commence into the cause of the fire and it would therefore not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.”