Introduction:

In this section, we’ll share the latest news from the bookinglab HWRC community.

The goal here is to inform you of any product updates or community-led initiatives and help you connect with councils tackling common challenges.

The top four news stories from October include:

1. West Berkshire Council and Lancashire County Council celebrated wins at the LARAC awards
2. Lancashire County Council successfully went live with their new HWRC Booking System
3. We implemented updates to align with WCAG 2.2 AA standards
4. New features were rolled out on our DIY Waste Module

West Berkshire Council and Lancashire County Council celebrated wins at the LARAC awards

Two of our partners, West Berkshire Council and Lancashire County Council, took home awards at this year's LARAC conference.

West Berkshire was recognised as HWRC of the Year, while Lancashire, in partnership with ReUse, won the Circular Economy Achievement award.

With these impressive wins, we’d like to give them a big shoutout and say congratulations on all their hard work and dedication!

Lancashire County Council went live with its new HWRC Booking System.

We are thrilled to have partnered with the LCC team to successfully roll out our market-leading HWRC Booking Service to 16 sites across the county.

Congratulations to everyone at LCC, and a big shoutout to the bookinglab product team for making it happen in just eight days —impressive work all around!

WCAG 2.2 AA enhancements.

With the recent publication of the WCAG 2.2 AA standards, we've committed to updating and aligning our HWRC Booking System to meet the highest levels of accessibility. Our focus included:

• Optimised contrast ratios
• Best-in-class keyboard navigation
• Clear error identification
• Enhanced focus visibility &
• Enlarged target sizes for easier interaction

We're excited to announce that these updates will be live by the end of October.

Product updates: DIY Waste Module.

As part of our product development process, we continuously gather feedback from our user community to ensure we’re always enhancing the product.

This latest round of updates focuses on the DIY Waste module, introducing key improvements to streamline the user experience and boost functionality.

Firstly, household counts now automatically exclude ‘No Shows,’ providing more accurate metrics and reducing manual adjustments to save time and eliminate confusion.

We’ve also enhanced messaging and guidance to better assist users who exceed their DIY waste quotas, creating a more intuitive experience and reducing unnecessary contact.

As part of this process, we’ve identified further opportunities to enhance the DIY Waste product in our next development cycle. We’ll be sharing these improvements in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Kent County Council's HWRC Booking System

As more councils explore HWRC Booking Systems, we felt it valuable to share insights from Kent County Council’s (KCC) rollout. Their industry-leading implementation delivered a 700% return on investment and a Digital Impact Award nomination.

In this blog, we’ll dive into Kent’s data, resident feedback, and anecdotal insights to highlight the benefits they achieved and how they made it happen.

Benefit 1: Cost Savings.

Hannah Allard, Insight and Development Manager at KCC, notes that Kent’s booking system has generated over £1.4 million in cost savings.

These savings are driven by:

1. Increased site efficiency
2. Decreased tonnage
3. Reduced misuse
4. Lower communication costs 

Let’s first explore how KCC’s HWRC Booking System has increased operational efficiency.

Since its implementation, one of Kent's providers has achieved annual savings of over £170,000 thanks to new operational efficiencies. With better management of demand and insights into usage trends, Kent can now resource the sites efficiently and mitigate peaks and troughs.

The system has also reduced the amount of waste processed through Kent’s network, leading totheabove-mentioned savings. This reduction is largely driven by innovative rules, alerts, and workflows that empower site managers to better control site usage and prevent or charge out-of-borough residents and traders who misuse the sites.

Beyond curbing misuse, Kent has noticed a positive shift in customer behaviour. Residents are visiting less frequently but bringing slightly larger amounts of waste per trip. Since the system was introduced, there has also been a notable increase in reuse and resale activities, further contributing to the reduction in tonnage.

Kent has achieved additional savings by digitising customer communication. In the past, closing sites for maintenance or emergencies required a full-scale communications campaign—site signage, press ads, leaflets, and more. Now, with the booking system’s block booking, bulk cancellation, and mass email features, Kent can simply prevent bookings in advance, update the website, and send an email to customers—dramatically cutting communication costs.

Building on this success, Kent is integrating its restricted vehicle/voucher scheme with the booking system to reduce printing costs. They are also considering an invest-to-save project to integrate the HWRC booking system with ANPR technology.

Benefit 2: User Experience.

One of Kent’s greatest successes lies in its commitment to user-centred design. By leveraging a dynamic, calendar-based booking application —rather than a static form-based product—Kent has been able to continually collect and act on resident feedback, shaping a fit-for-purpose service that meets the needs of its community.

This is demonstrated in their recent HWRC Satisfaction Survey, where:

• 96.3% found it easy to make a booking
• 73.9% used the ‘on the day’ booking option (a feedback-based enhancement)
• 97% booked the exact date they wanted
• 96.1% were satisfied or extremely satisfied with the booking experience

Residents also cited no queues, enhanced communication, and increased support from site staff as additional service enhancements.

Benefit 3: Improved Recycling Rates.

After adopting the booking system, KCC saw an initial 5% increase in monthly recycling rates. This improvement comes from site staff having more time to assist customers, guide them to the correct containers, and educate them on the importance of waste separation. Previously, much of their time was spent managing traffic flows. The booking system also helps Kent communicate recycling messages more effectively, as exemplified by their 'Nothing Wasted' campaign.  

Reflecting on the system’s impact, Hannah adds:

"We're so proud of this product; it has really transformed the service we deliver to our customers. If you're thinking about it, I would really encourage you to try and get the booking system in."

Learn more.

These are just a few of the benefits Kent has experienced with our industry-leading HWRC Booking System.  

To discover more, click here.