Hertfordshire County Council champions growing recycling shop scheme
Thousands of items are being given a second life in Hertfordshire, thanks to the county council’s growing network of re-use shops.
There are now five outlets operating at recycling centres in Harpenden, Stevenage, Ware, Waterdale and Welwyn Garden City.
They enable saleable household items – including furniture, bikes, musical instruments and games – to be passed on, rather than being sent to landfill or for incineration.
The latest data published in advance of the council’s latest resources and performance cabinet panel meeting shows just how successful they are. In the three months between October and December last year (2025), 23,452 items were reused through the shops.
As a result, the report suggests that 127.1 tonnes of waste have been diverted and the outlets have generated £117,000 in gross sales.
The data was part of a report on the county council’s corporate performance in the third quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, running between October and December. It will be presented to a meeting of the council’s resources and performance cabinet panel on Wednesday (April 15).
The re-use shops open five days a week, but hours vary across the county. The re-use shop at the Harpenden Recycling Centre, on Dark Lane, is open Saturday to Wednesday, 10am to 5.30pm.
The re-use shop at the Stevenage Recycling Centre, on Caxton Way, is open Thursday to Monday, 10am to 5.30pm. The re-use shop at the Ware Recycling Centre, Westmill Road, is open Saturday to Wednesday, 10am to 5.30pm. The re-use shop in Waterdale Recycling Centre, St Albans Road, near Garston, is open Saturday to Wednesday, 10am to 5.30pm. The re-use shop at the Welwyn Garden City Recycling Centre, Tewin Road, is open Thursday to Monday, 10am to 5.30pm.