Aberystwyth Recycling Centre

Established in 1989 as a ‘Friends of the Earth’ (FoE) initiative, the Aberystwyth Recycling Centre (ARC) fought hard against initial vehement opposition from the local waste management lobby and the County Council to set up and develop Aberystwyth’s first and finest recycling facility.

Founders Ged Farnell and Joe Hawthorne originally lobbied the now-defunct Dyfed County Council on behalf of the FoE to provide recycling facilities for the local community back in the late Eighties.

But despite proven evidence from a wide range of academic and commercial sources, including strong support from leading expert Professor Cable at the University of Wales, and in the face of overwhelming support for a recycling centre from local residents, the Council refused to listen, citing instead a single report commissioned by a local waste management firm touting landfill as the only viable solution.

Intent on doing something constructive, and refusing to be beaten by a moribund, self-interested and unrepresentative bureaucracy, Ged and Joe bought a van with their own money and started running a paper collection service for local residents, funded entirely from donations, and aided by a local paper recycling company who supplied a skip.

Since then, attitudes have changed, as has the Council. Core principles of ‘Recycling, Reduction and Re-use’ are now enshrined in legislation, and today’s rather more enlightened Ceredigion District Council works closely with ARC to serve the local community.

In twenty years, ARC has grown from a small group of dedicated activists to being a major player in Ceredigion’s waste management infrastructure, supplying state-of-the-art recycling facilities, scheduled collections and extensive expertise to homes and organisations throughout Ceredigion and beyond.

We work hard to ensure that the highest practicable amount of recyclable materials are reclaimed from commercial and domestic waste streams and re-manufactured as viable product.