Commercial Waste Management Pickering

Pickering is a market town in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, on the border of the North York Moors National Park. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it sits at the foot of the moors, overlooking the Vale of Pickering to the south. A thriving town with a vibrant, active local community, the town’s historic marketplace is packed with excellent independent retail businesses offering everything from bikes and outdoor gear, local produce and crafts, and antiques and gifts.

Despite being fairly small, with a population of 7,000, Pickering is a real hub for the performing arts, with no fewer than 3 active theatre spaces in the town. The small population of Pickering is well supported by a number of community-run venues and initiatives, which gives locals the opportunity to come together. Pickering Memorial Hall is the hub of community activity, with many weekly events taking place for locals to get involved with including Yoga For All, Slimming World meetings and Pickering Art Group.

Pickering’s Market is held every Monday and has done so since 1871 when it was given permission by the Duchy of Lancaster. The town is also popular for its tourist attractions, like the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Medieval Castle, Beck Isle Museum and the stunning Saxon Church with its world-famous 15th-century wall paintings.

Pickering’s household waste collections are managed by Ryedale District Council who have ensured that the percentage of waste being sent for recycling, composting or reuse has remained above the national average since 2007. In 2008/09 the whole region recorded an all-time high of 53.1%, in the years since this number has slowly declined and then plateaued to around 46% in 2018/19, however, this figure is still well above the national average of 42.43%.

The people of Pickering have shown their support for the local environment over the years by setting up a local Environmental Action Group. Pickering Environmental Group (PEG) is an offshoot of the larger Ryedale Environmental Group which has been set up to inspire the local community to take positive action to combat waste and improve the environment on both a local and national scale. The group is made up of 50 members of the local community who meet on a bi-monthly basis to discuss and put plans in place. Projects that they continue to work on include Give or Take Days, where local people are encouraged to bring items they are thinking of binning, that might still serve a purpose in another’s home. Morsbags is another ongoing project which sees stitchers making fabric bags and giving them away to the public, in a bid to reduce the amount of single-use carrier bags that are being used.

The most recent project to have been put into action is the Pickering Food Share. Influenced by the groundbreaking work achieved by the Ryedale Free Fridge in Malton, the REG, with the assistance of the Ryedale Lions and the Pickering Rotary Club, have opened a community food bank that is focused on collecting and redistributing unwanted food which would otherwise be going to waste. The Pickering Food Share is open every Wednesday to Friday from 10 am to 1 pm for collections or contributions.