Waste and Waste Sites
Waste
Within the administrative boundaries of Staffordshire County Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council, more that 4.2 million tonnes of waste is generated every year and this amount is predicted to rise over the next 15 to 20 years. Waste is produced not only by householders, but also through commercial and industrial activities, agricultural practice and construction, demolition and excavation projects. The pie chart below helps to show the proportions of each type of waste generated.
In April 2010, there were 246 permitted waste management facilities in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, in addition to 39 Sewage Treatment Works.
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Recycling Facilities
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75
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Organic Treatment Facilities
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14
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Residual Treatment Facilities
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14
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Aggregate Recycling Facilities
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24
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Waste Transfer Facilities
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98
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Landfill Sites
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21
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The latest Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) provides detailed lists and maps of the facilities. For the latest AMR click here|||.
NEW: the Planning and Development Mapping Portal is now available to help you to view mapping information about waste management facilities in Staffordshire. To access the mapping portal click
here|||
The estimated permitted waste treatment capacity (as at November 2009) is 2.7 million tonnes per annum for recycling, organic treatment and residual recovery (excluding waste transfer capacity and landfill). Waste transfer facilities have been excluded from the existing treatment capacity to avoid double counting, as despite some of the facilities recycling on site, the actual proportion/tonnage of recycling capacity is not known.
There is also approximately 800,000 tonnes per annum of aggregate recycling capacity. Permitted waste management capacity figures demonstrate that the sub region is in excess of the waste treatment tonnage required by the RSS waste forecast for 2008/09.
With regard to the RSS waste forecast for 2025/26 if no further waste management facilities are permitted in the interim period between now and then, there will only be a requirement for the Joint Waste Core Strategy to plan for additional recycling facilities in Staffordshire to treat municipal, and commercial and industrial waste (capacity gap of approximately 200,000 tonnes). Refer to page 31, Appendix 3.2 and Appendix 3.5 of AMR2009 for further details on permitted waste management facilities and capacity and waste treatment requirements and capacity gap.
The current number of waste management facilities are available on our consultation portal as an Evidence Base Report.|||
The Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) are also useful sources of waste related data.
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/data/97400.aspx|||
It should be noted that as with any other information, waste data is not static and changes over time.
Waste Sites
Recycling Facilities and Waste Transfer
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have a reasonably good network of recycling facilities, 75 in total with a permitted capacity of approximately 1.2 million tonnes per annum. There is also a good network of waste transfer stations that will often begin the sorting process before bulking up waste items in readiness to transfer to an appropriate treatment or processing facility. There are 98 waste transfer facilities (including the 16 Household Waste Recycling Centres) with a total capacity of almost 2 million tonnes per annum.
Household Waste Recycling Centres
There are 14 Household Waste Recycling Centres in Staffordshire| and there are also two facilities within Stoke on Trent|.
Organic Treatment Facilities
The number of organic treatment facilities in Staffordshire has increased significantly over the last few years. There are a total of 12 permitted organic treatment sites, which consist of:
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11 open windrow composting facilities - 9 operational, 1 pre-operational and 1 non-operational (permitted only until November 2009).
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3 In-vessel composting sites - only 1 operational.
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3 Anaerobic Digestion/biomass sites - only 1 operational
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The total permitted organic capacity is 383ktpa.
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The total operational organic capacity is 239ktpa, however only 20ktpa is operational capacity to treat co-mingled food and green waste.
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The total non-operational organic capacity is 144ktpa, of which 20ktpa is non operational IVC capacity to treat co-mingled food and green waste.
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The amount of permitted capacity and operational capacity that can treat food and green waste is only 193ktpa and 20ktpa respectively.
There are also 2 sewage treatment works where biological treatment and energy generation is taking place: Strongford (40ktpa) and Claymills (55ktpa).
Aggregate Recycling Facilities
Capacity for recycling construction & demolition wastes to produce recycled aggregate has been re-assessed and there are 20 sites in Staffordshire and 4 sites in Stoke-on-Trent with a combined capacity of approximately 823,000 tonnes per annum.
Residual Treatment and Energy from Waste
There are 14 residual treatment facilities in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent with approximately 1 million tonnes per annum of permitted capacity. Of the 14 facilities there are two permitted Energy from Waste facilities (1 pre-operational) which manage municipal waste.
The Synergy Energy from Waste plant at Hanford, Stoke-on-Trent, burns about 200,000 tonnes of municipal waste and produces about 14.5 Mega Watts of electricity each year. Permission has recently been granted for a second Energy from Waste facility to be built in South Staffordshire at Four Ashes with a permitted capacity of 300,000 tonnes per annum. It is possible to keep up to date with the progress of the project by using the following link http://www.staffswaste2020.info/|||
Landfill Sites
There are a total of 21 landfill sites, 19 in Staffordshire and 2 in Stoke-on-Trent. These consist of:
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1 Hazardous waste landfill cell currently not in use.
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11 Non Hazardous waste landfill sites (4 operational, 2 non operational and 5 with planning permission but not yet commenced).
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9 Inert waste landfill sites (6 operational, 1 non operational and 2 with planning permission but not yet commenced).
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7 landfill sites generate electricity from Landfill Gas Utilisation Facilities (Meece, Poplars, Wilnecote, Marchington, Himley Wood, Redhurst/Essington and Walleys).
The majority of the waste managed in Staffordshire is currently disposed of at landfill sites. However, there has been a significant reduction in the amount of waste being landfilled in recent years. In 1994/5 3.2 million tonnes of waste was landfilled and in 1997 this had reduced to 2.7 million tonnes. Figures in our Evidence Base Report - Technical Paper (September 2008) suggest that less than 1.5 million tonnes of waste is now disposed of at landfill.
According to the Scott Wilson Study 2009, the remaining life of landfills in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent range between 3 and 19 years. Future need for additional landfill could be met through new or existing quarries being granted permission for landfill for restoration purposes. Note that there are 5 non hazardous and 2 inert sites with planning permission but which have not yet commenced (mineral sites with planning permission to restore by infill). Changes in legislation and increases in landfill tax will drive waste from landfill where possible, however this will have the effect of prolonging the landfill capacity at existing sites.
Waste planning policy
Waste policy in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent is currently being revised in line with recent changes in planning legislation. The preparation of a Joint Waste Local Plan is currently underway and more information on this is available on the Joint Waste Local Plan| web page.
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