Waste and recycling centres

Access Restrictions

• Only adults to unload the vehicle. Please keep children and pets inside the vehicle
• A driving licence is required for proof of Wigan Borough residency
• Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes will not be allowed at any of the Recycling centres
• Vehicles will not be allowed to use a tipping mechanism at any of the Recycling Centres, vehicles must be manually unloaded
• Trailers over 4 metres will not be allowed at any of the Recycling Centres
• Trailers over 3 metres long will not be allowed at Slag Lane or Chanters Recycling Centre
• Anyone deemed to be using abusive or intimidating behaviour will not be allowed to use any of the Recycling Centres
• Pedestrians will not be allowed to carry waste onto any of the Recycling Centres
• 5 mph speed limits apply at all sites
• 2 metre vehicle height restriction
• Speed bumps in use on site. 

Please Note: Due to safety concerns, queueing outside of the site will be restricted, residents may be asked to leave and return at a later time.

Slag Lane and Chanters Recycling Centres

Household waste will be accepted in:

• A car with or without a single axle trailer up to 3 metres long*
• A van under 3.5 tonnes with or without a single axle trailer up to 3 metres long* with a permit
• A car or van under 3.5 tonnes with a twin axle trailer (up to 3m long) with a permit.

*Trailer length is measured from the hitch to the end of the trailer.

Please Note: Residents visiting Slag Lane are advised to approach from the Lowton side.

Kirkless Recycling Centre

Household waste will be accepted in:

• A car with or without a single axle trailer up to 4 metres long*
• A van under 3.5 tonnes with or without a single axle trailer up to 4 metres long* with a permit
• A car or van under 3.5 tonnes with a twin axle trailer (up to 4m long) with a permit.

*Trailer length is measured from the hitch to the end of the trailer.

Waste recycling permit scheme

A valid permit must be obtained online via the Wigan Council website. You will receive confirmation that your permit is being processed and then your waste permit will be sent to your email address within two hours.

Waste permits are valid for one visit only within seven days of issuing. Each household is entitled to 12 permits within a 12 month period, starting from the date the first permit is requested. The number of permits issued to any vehicle or premises will be monitored.

For the purpose of this permit scheme a van shall be deemed to be: 

• Any vehicle without side or rear windows or seats in rear
• Any ‘flat back’ vehicle
• Any ‘pick up’ vehicle, with or without detachable cover to rear load area
• Any vehicle with ‘blanked out’ rear windows.

Please note: Access to sites will be removed for people misusing the waste recycling permits.

Apply for a waste recycling permit

Permits can be applied for on the same day you wish to take your waste, as they will be sent to your computer or mobile device within 2 hours of making your order online.

A waste permit allows you ONE visit to the recycling centre. You can request 2 types of permits:

• Apply for a standard waste permit
• Apply for a garden waste permit (Only for very large gardens that can demonstrate that they regularly generate large amounts of garden waste throughout the year)*
• Request to be re-sent an existing waste permit (as long as the permit has not already expired or previously been used).

*If you only have a small amount of garden waste which exceeds one bins worth, then please apply for a standard waste permit, and select garden waste from the drop-down menu.

To find out more:

• View our waste permit frequently asked questions (FAQs)
• Read our waste permit terms and conditions.

Hire vehicles

Hire your vehicle then order your free waste recycling permit. When attending the recycling centre, please take your hire vehicle documents, waste permit and driving licence with you.

Locations

Wigan Borough has three waste and recycling centres in the following locations:

KirklessMakerfield Way, Higher Ince, WN2 2PR01942 825755

Slag LaneLeigh, WA3 1BZ01942 261633

Chanters Chanters Industrial Estate, Atherton, M46 9BP01942 897949

Opening hours (inc. Bank Holidays):

• Summer - everyday, 8am to 7:45pm (from last Sunday in March)
• Winter - everyday, 9am to 5:45pm (from last Sunday in October)

Site closed: Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

Abusive behaviour towards members of staff will not be tolerated and may result in being denied access to any of the recycling centres.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and CCTV is in place across all sites to monitor vehicle visits.

Items that can be recycled at the centres

To ensure your items are recycled correctly, please separate your waste before you visit a recycling centre.

Please note: Petrol and Diesel are not accepted at any of the recycling centres.

Battery Recycling

Batteries are often found in products like laptops, tablets, mobile phones, radio-controlled toys, Bluetooth devices, shavers, electric toothbrushes, power tools, scooters, kid’s plastic toys, remotes controls, and even e-cigarettes etc.

• The research suggests that at least 25% of the UK population appear to be binning batteries, and nearly a third (29%) of those people who dispose of electrical items have put at least one of them in a household bin or the wrong recycling container in the past year
• Many people are unaware that there are embedded batteries in some electrical waste and the electrical items most commonly disposed of within the last year are electric toothbrushes (39% of respondents), device charger/powerbank (24%) and shavers/trimmers (22%). Other items commonly disposed of included electric toys, power tools, e-cigarettes and Bluetooth earbuds
• Of the people who throw batteries in the bin, most say they don’t know what to do with them, and only 10% of those that bin batteries are aware of the fire risk. Those binning batteries appear more likely to be younger and female, particularly for loose batteries
• People who are aware, or who are made aware, of the fire risk are less likely to bin batteries.

Batteries SHOULD NOT be disposed of in any of the kerbside bins. Find your nearest battery recycling outlet from the Recycle Now Locator (external link).

Local recycling points 

• Find a local recycling point (external link)

Full or damaged recycling points

If you find a recycling point that is full or damaged, you should report it to the relevant organisation. See contact details below:

• The glass recycling banks are serviced by Glass Recycling (UK), call 01226 727298 or email bob@glassrecycle.co.uk
• Clothing/shoe banks are serviced by different charities and the contact details should be displayed on the bank itself. If there are no contact details provided, you can contact the waste and recycling team with the location of the bank and the type of recycling it's used for
• Can recycling banks are serviced by Wigan Council, you can contact the waste and recycling team with the location of the bank.

Customer Satisfaction Survey

Your opinions about our service are very important to us.

Complete our online customer satisfaction survey (external link). The survey should take a few minutes to complete and will help us to improve the services we deliver to you.