"Doesn't time fly" is a phrase that's often bandied about and one that was brought home to me when researching material for this Leader... I've realised that it was at least 18 months ago that Sainsbury's supermarket was discovered to be closing its in-car park recycling points. I've been meaning to write about it ever since!

These facilities were incredibly handy. My local one seemed almost as large as the civic amenity tip and, (I believe) took all the same items bar garden and builders' waste. Sometimes the huge containers became so full that recycling would be stacked against them and I can imagine that keeping everything safe and running smoothly could sometimes be a logistical nightmare. In terms of earning brownie points and bringing people onto site and potentially into store to spend money though... surely that would have made it worthwhile? I regularly grumble about our local councils shortening the opening hours of their tips and reducing the number of days they're open - which means recycling responsibly can be something of a battle. Sainsbury's, with its stores and car parks open seven days a week until midnight, offered an attractive alternative. And its facilities could be used by people who didn't drive. Sainsbury's then, was something of a recycling and environmental saviour.

So what's made me talk about something that happened 18mths ago? An enquiry from someone in my town, who'd gathered a couple of bags of the type of recyclables that aren't collected at kerbside, which she wished to take to the tip. She'd discovered that there's no pedestrian access. I get that there are safety concerns when it comes to people walking into a site where lots of cars are queuing, but we're considered safe once on site and whilst negotiating those same moving cars as we concentrate on carrying/dragging our stuff to the bins earmarked for it. To me, that's far more dangerous than walking onto site with a couple of bags of recycling or perhaps a rolled up rug in our arms. Why can't safe pedestrian access be provided to local residents who are trying to 'do the right thing' and recycle where possible? Everyone I've discussed this sentiment with, agrees with me. Next stop the council, methinks...

Sainsbury's recycling points are clearly missed more than I'd realised then! Some good news though... the organisation has, this year, introduced something not offered in many civic amenity tips - the ability, in 520 of its stores across the UK, for us to recycle soft plastics and flexible plastic packaging. Plastics that in the past have had to be binned. Now that I like - along with the organisation's goal of halving the amount of plastics in its operations by the year end. Sainsbury's - I reckon you can consider yourself redeemed!