Mobile tip opens in Macclesfield Saturday, not Bollington

Cheshire East’s rebuilt mobile recycling service starts on Saturday 5 September, and its first Macclesfield visit is that afternoon, at Duke Street car park. The council announced the launch on 28 August (Cheshire East media release).

Bollington is not on the new rota. Its town council’s website still tells residents the mobile tip comes to Albert Road on the first Saturday of the month, 8am to 10am (Bollington Town Council). That is tomorrow, and Cheshire East’s own list of sites does not include it.

Where it goes, and when

The council’s page gives five sites and a fixed monthly pattern (mobile household waste recycling centres):

A sixth site at Audlem is “expected to be added once final arrangements have been completed”. Audlem is at the far southern end of the borough, about 24 miles from Macclesfield in a straight line.

The council publishes only “morning” and “afternoon”. The actual slot times appear once you sign in to the waste portal, which is behind a login, so we could not check them.

Bollington: what the record shows

Bollington’s tip closed in 2024 and the mobile service was the replacement promised for it. The council’s own release of 27 March 2024 set out the deal (update on household waste recycling centres):

• four core sites would stay open, at Alsager, Crewe, Macclesfield and Knutsford
• Bollington, Poynton and Middlewich would shut under emergency closure
• the savings were part of the 2024/25 budget
• mitigation would include later midweek opening at the four core sites and, “on a trial basis, a mobile household waste recycling service for residents in the Bollington, Poynton and Middlewich areas”

That trial ran. Archived copies of the council’s page show the mobile unit visiting Bollington off Albert Road on the first Saturday of the month, Middlewich on the second and Poynton on the last, each for two hours, 8am to 10am (archived 11 September 2025).

The version archived in December 2025 named the six places the expanded service would cover: Congleton, Middlewich, Audlem, Disley, Macclesfield and Wilmslow (archived 7 December 2025). Bollington was already absent from that list, and so was Poynton.

Poynton came back. The launch rota includes Anson Road. Bollington did not, and neither did Disley, which the February 2026 version of the page had paired with Poynton as “Poynton East / Disley” (archived 20 May 2026).

One small tell. Both live council pages still carry “Bollington waste centre” and “Bollington tip” in their search keywords, while neither page lists a Bollington site.

A year and four days late

You have to book, and the council’s pages disagree about walking in

Booking is compulsory at the mobile sites. It is done through the waste portal, the same one used for garden waste subscriptions, and you can book up to 30 days ahead. You need to give a vehicle registration, and staff check the plate against your booking. If you cannot get online, the number is 0300 123 5011.

The council’s pages do not agree on whether you can arrive on foot:

• The mobile HWRC page says residents “can visit our mobile HWRCs by car or on foot but cannot use vans or commercial vehicles”, and its booking instructions tell you to say so if you are arriving by bike or on foot.
• The booking page says “you can only arrive at our mobile sites in a car” (book a slot).
• The main recycling centres page says the same: “you can only visit our mobile sites in a car” (household waste recycling centres).

If you were planning to walk your recycling round to Duke Street, book first and ring 0300 123 5011 to confirm before you go.

What they will and will not take

Accepted:

• cans, tins, paper, card, glass bottles and jars
• bagged black bin waste
• bulky furniture that fits in your car, broken down where possible, though small sofas should be left whole
• mattresses, fridges, small electricals such as kettles and microwaves
• garden waste

Refused:

• rubble, DIY materials, plasterboard, soil
• chemicals, paint, tyres, engine or cooking oil, fluorescent tubes, gas canisters, asbestos
• furniture containing glass, mixed food and garden waste
• anyone else’s household waste, or waste someone has been paid to remove

Trade and commercial waste is not accepted at all.

What it means for you

• If you live in Bollington, do not turn up at Albert Road tomorrow morning on the strength of the town council’s page. The nearest fixed tip is Danes Moss, off the A536 Macclesfield to Congleton road at Gawsworth, SK11 9QP, open 8.30am to 6pm until the end of September (household waste recycling centres).
• If you use Duke Street, the mobile unit is there on the first Saturday afternoon of each month. Duke Street parking is free after 3pm every day, so a late slot costs nothing to park for. See parking in Macclesfield.
• Book before you go. Slots at the mobile sites always need booking. At the four fixed sites, booking is only needed at weekends and bank holidays.
• Bulky waste is a separate service and it is currently suspended, due back later this month. The details are on our Macclesfield bin collection days page, along with the full tip rules.

Also on The Macclesfield Times

• Macclesfield bin collection days: black bins go three-weekly this autumn
• Parking in Macclesfield: the tariffs, and where it is free