Commercial Waste Management Richmond

Richmond is a market town in North Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. The town has a population of almost 9,000 with over 53,000 in the District. Richmond was once described by the Rough Guide as being “an absolute gem”. Situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Richmond is a town with lots of history and is perhaps best known for its landmark Norman Castle which sits in the middle of the town overlooking the River Swale. The town’s cobbled marketplace is one of the largest in England and it is home to many independent shops and restaurants.

Among Richmond’s many attractions, apart from the stunning castle, is the Georgian Theatre Royal which was built in 1788 and was subsequently fully restored and extended in 2003. It is one of Britain’s oldest extant theatres. The Green Howards Regimental Museum and the Richmond Museum are also both well worth a visit, as is The Station, the former Richmond Railway Station which was sympathetically converted into an amazing space which now hosts a bar/restaurant, artisan shops, brewery and a three-screen cinema.

Among the businesses/organisations based in Richmond include Richmondshire District Council, King’s Head Hotel, Dot’s Place and Richmondshire Cricket Club, whose clubhouse rightfully boasts as having the best beer garden in the town. Considering the large size of the population it’s unsurprising that there are a number of happily thriving community groups, including Richmond’s Amateur Dramatic Society and Richmond and District’s Beekeepers’ Association. The latter has over 100 members and regularly offers Beekeeping lessons to newcomers who are eager to learn.

In nearby Hudswell you’ll find the first community-owned pub in Yorkshire: The George and Dragon Hudswell. After standing empty for 2 years, the land and building were bought by 80 local supporters who invested over £240,000 into renovating the pub. Reopening for business in 2010, The George and Dragon Hudswell remains community-owned and sells food and drink from local suppliers.

Richmond’s household waste collections are managed by Richmondshire District Council. In 2007/08 the percentage of waste being sent for composting, recycling or landfill was at an all-time low of 33.10%. In the years since, thanks to continual improvements to waste collection schemes and a general shift in attitudes towards recycling, these rates have been much improved. The Richmondshire District celebrated a record 52.4% high in 2015/16, over 10 percent more than the national average at the time, unfortunately, this high performance was not sustained. Since then, rates of recycling have dropped to 39.2%, three points below the national average, but still a marked improvement from much earlier years.

The Richmond community engages in a handful of local initiatives to reduce waste and improve the local economy, one of which is the Richmond & District Local Trading Exchange System. This Local Exchange Trading System allows those taking part to exchange goods and services for ‘Cobbles’. Each participant has an account which is debited cobbles (when they use a service or buy goods) and is credited cobbles when someone purchases a service or good from them. In this manner, those with less money may be able to procure services from others in exchange for service or goods that they can otherwise offer.

Richmond is also a frequent entrant into the RHS’ Britain in Bloom competition, which sees dozens of volunteers offer their hoes, shovels and hands in order to help make the town look its best. Richmond won the 2018 Yorkshire Rose Discretionary Award for Best New Entry, being praised by judges for the speed with which the community was able to come together and improve their local surroundings. In 2019, a focus was put on the amount of waste that the town produces and their efforts to reduce their environmental impact. ‘Waste sculptures’ were created and displayed in the Friary Gardens.