It goes without saying that the stock at Moray Waste Busters has been ‘well-handled’ and as such, the staff and board have spent a significant amount of time preparing the site for re-opening on 20 July, including putting all items for sale into quarantine for 72 hours.
The Forres-based social enterprise has been closed since 23 March, to comply with Scottish Government guidelines and to help slow the spread of Covid-19.
Phil Mills, the operation manager at Moray Waste Busters stressed that the staff and board at the social enterprise have spent a lot of time preparing the site to introduce new Covid-19 health and safety policies and help minimise the spread of Covid-19. “Putting in the measures needed to re-open after the lockdown has given us the opportunity to rework the site to improve our customer experience,” commented Mills.
These changes include revised opening hours of 10am all seven days of the week; a new foot traffic flow for customers; and a shielded till near a re-located exit. Hand sanitiser stations will be available for customers and staff throughout the shop, and signs on the shop floor will help customers adhere to the two-metre social distancing rules. Moray Waste Busters are asking all customers to wear facemasks, as mandated by the Scottish Government, and to use hand sanitiser before handling any products.
“The site is now more open and customer-friendly, with lots of space to socially distance. There is lots of new stock, which has been quarantined for at least 72 hours, cheaper than ever before,” said Phil.
Customers will not need to book to come to the shop and will be waved through to our car park. If they have small donations that they can carry up from the car park, then they can drop them off at a container by the polytunnels. However, for bulky donations, customers will have to book online via the Waterford Recycling Centre booking system at www.moray.gov.uk/wastebooking.
“As we come out of lockdown, I ask customers to be a little patient with all the staff as we settle in to this new way of working,” added Phil. “We are all getting used to living and working with the virus. Our aim is to make your visit as pleasant and easy as possible while keeping us all safe,” Phil said.
Bob Kenny, Chair of the Moray Waste Busters Board commented that the social enterprise was happy to welcome back loyal customers, old and new. “Whether it’s a donation or a browse around our displays, all of us have a responsibility to respect one another by wearing a mask and keeping a suitable distance to help keep this dreadful virus at bay. Please follow the advice and prompts around the site,” he said. “Above all else please enjoy your visit to Moray Waste Busters and feel free to feedback your thoughts and comments online or where appropriate to a member of staff.”
“We very much appreciate the support, both financial and otherwise which has helped us enormously in getting to this point where we are able to re-open. It has been a huge undertakinghil. and we look forward to seeing new and familiar faces, albeit, with masks on!”
Moray Waste Busters will start van collections and deliveries from the 20 July and will be following Scottish Government guidelines. The social enterprise also looks forward to resuming the donation of items to 70 not-for-profit charity organisations throughout the community once it re-opens.
Phil added: “The passing on items free of charge to local charities, community groups, and schools is an initiative we are keen to expand beyond the 70 plus groups we already have helped. It is important that the items generously donated by the local community are diverted back to help the local community in these increasingly challenging times.”
