A free pop-up tip in Chiswick will close an hour earlier than previously advertised, with residents now able to bring unwanted household items to Edensor Gardens between 11am and 3pm on Saturday 7 November.
A separate repair café at Dukes Meadows Community Centre will also run for a shorter period, from noon to 2pm. Both activities had previously been advertised as finishing at 4pm.
Hounslow Council says the exact position of the pop-up tip within Edensor Gardens is still to be confirmed. The repair café will be at Dukes Meadows Community Centre, W4 2RZ, and will offer walk-in appointments.
The revised hours matter for people planning to bring large items or seek help with a repair. The tip and the café are separate activities, at different locations, and have different limits on what each household can bring.
What can go to the pop-up tip
Residents can take up to six household items to the tip free of charge. The council says each individual item or bag counts towards that allowance: a sofa, a mattress, a bag of rubbish and a bag of clothes would each count as one item.
The accepted items include household furniture, small electrical items, clothing and textiles, general household waste and small household batteries. Mattresses must be no wider than 180cm and weigh no more than 45kg. Residents are asked to bring only items they can safely carry and unload themselves.
Some materials cannot be accepted at the event. They include cardboard, paint, car batteries, cooking oil and engine oil, as well as cement, rubble, plasterboard, sharp objects and needles. Dangerous chemicals, flammable liquids and asbestos are also excluded.
The council says its Space Waye reuse and recycling centre accepts some of the materials the pop-up cannot take, including car batteries, oils and limited quantities of DIY waste. Limits or charges may apply, and the centre does not accept asbestos. Residents should check the rules for their particular items before travelling.
Repairs and reuse
At the café, residents can bring one item from each of four categories: small electrical items, bicycles, clothing and textiles, and digital devices. The council lists the sessions as walk-in appointments; a repair is not guaranteed.
Collect4Reuse and the Richmond Furniture Scheme will consider suitable household goods for refurbishment and reuse in the community. Their teams will decide at the event whether an item is suitable. People can also donate old tools, and council waste and recycling staff will be available to answer questions.
The Chiswick visit follows the borough’s first pop-up tip on the Oriel Estate in Feltham on 17 October. The council said that event collected 390kg of bulky items for recycling and processing, alongside 50kg of textiles and 35kg of electrical waste. It also reported that 29 items were saved for redistribution through Collect4Reuse.
Those figures describe the Feltham event rather than the amount expected in Chiswick. The council reported that none of the material collected at the first event went to landfill. The figures do not establish whether the scheme has reduced fly-tipping.
A separate home collection
The pop-up is different from the council’s new home collection offer. Since 2 November, Hounslow households that pay Council Tax have been able to book one free bulky-waste collection a year, covering up to five eligible items from a residential property. Bookings are currently made by telephone on 020 8583 5555, and items must be listed when booking.
Fridges and freezers are currently excluded from that home service, along with hazardous and building waste. The rules are not identical to those for the pop-up: for example, sealed cooking oil can be included in a home collection within the council’s stated limit, but it cannot be brought to the Chiswick event.
Featured image: AI-generated illustration.
