Household Waste Recycling Centres

General Information

When you have an unexpected extra amount of waste or recycling or you have something too big for the kerbside waste collection, there are two ways to be able to get rid of it. First there is the Special Collection service where the waste is picked up for you and taken to the appropriate waste facility and there is the Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRC) where extra can be taken. You can book a special collection online or call Customer Services on 01856 873535.

There are three HWRCs situated at Hatston in Kirkwall, Garson in Stromness and Bossack in Tankerness, their opening hours can be found further down the page. These facilities are manned and have the ability to accept domestic waste. In addition, there are two Recycling Centres located at St Margarets Hope and adjacent to Cursiter Quarry near Finstown, these do not accept household rubbish.

The three HWRC sites have a member of staff on site. Please treat this staff member with courtesy. They are there to advise visitors, maintain Health and Safety, report full containers and general housekeeping. They are not there to unload your waste so you should ensure that you are able to handle the waste yourself. At the site each container will have a sign with some indication as to what is accepted in it, please take time to read the signs and if in doubt ask or take it home and call to get advice. Please bear in mind the weather conditions on your visit as well, loose waste and open containers on a windy day are not the best mix and can cause a public nuisance.

Our HWRCs and Recycling Centres are provided for the general public. This means that there should be no commercial use.

If you have hired a van to take your waste to the site, you may be asked for your rental agreement as proof that you are not a business.

Please be aware that sites have limited capacity and that skips sometimes fill up faster than we can empty them. So, we may sometimes have to close a site unexpectedly or you may be asked to come back another time.  We do try hard to limit this as much as possible and apologise for the inconvenience.

Opening times

Site Facilities

Hatston HWRC, Crowness Crescent, Hatston Ind Est, Kirkwall

• Inert waste, such as stones, concrete, bricks, mortar, soil, window glass and ceramics
• Textiles (clothes and shoes)
• Scrap Metals
• Black Bag waste
• Bulky Household waste
• Garden Waste
• Cardboard
• Electrical and electronic equipment
• Household and vehicle batteries
• Fluorescent tubes and energy saving bulbs
• Waste lubricating oils
• Cooking oil
• Paper and thin card
• Food and Drinks cans, foil and aerosols
• Glass bottles and jars
• Plastic bottles.

Garson HWRC, Garson Industrial Estate, Stromness

• Inert waste, such as stones, concrete, bricks, mortar, soil, window glass and ceramics
• Scrap Metals
• Black Bag waste
• Bulky Household waste
• Garden Waste
• Cardboard
• Electrical and electronic equipment
• Household and vehicle batteries
• Fluorescent tubes and energy saving bulbs
• Textiles (clothes and shoes)
• Waste lubricating oils
• Paper and thin card
• Food and Drinks cans, foil and aerosols
• Glass bottles and jars
• Plastic bottles

Bossack HWRC Tankerness;

• Inert waste, such as stones, concrete, bricks, mortar, soil, window glass and ceramics
• Scrap Metals
• Black Bag waste
• Bulky Household waste
• Textiles (clothes and shoes)
• Garden Waste
• Cardboard
• Electrical and electronic equipment
• Household and vehicle batteries
• Fluorescent tubes and energy saving bulbs
• Waste lubricating oils
• Cooking Oil
• Paper and thin card
• Food and Drinks cans, foil and aerosols
• Glass bottles and jars
• Plastic bottles

Cursiter and St Margarets Hope Recycling Centres,

 Please remember that these sites cannot accept domestic black bag waste or large household items. If these are left we may have to close the site to clean it up, inconveniencing the other members of the public.

• Scrap Metals
• Garden Waste
• Cardboard
• Electrical and electronic equipment
• Textiles (clothes and shoes)”.
• Fluorescent tubes and energy saving bulbs
• Paper and thin card
• Food and Drinks cans, foil and aerosols
• Glass bottles and jars
• Plastic bottles
• Household batteries