Staffordshire HWRCs under renewed threat

The proposals come despite the council scrapping a similar plan in 2010, which was dropped after facing considerable opposition from residents.

At a cabinet meeting next week (April 16) councillors will decide whether to further consult residents on closing the sites at Biddulph and Burntwood, following a review of the existing facilities which was carried out in December 2013.

The Burntwood site currently has a throughput of around 3,700 tonnes per year, with the next nearest site located 3.6 miles away at Cannock. Meanwhile, the Biddulph site handles around 4,500 tonnes of material per year, and its nearest neighbouring site is located 4 miles away.

According to the authority, the two locations have been earmarked for closure due to the proximity of other sites, as neither site is amongst the busiest of its HWRCs and as the closure of other more isolated sites would have a greater impact on residents.

The council also said that the Biddulph centre would be a strong candidate or closure, due to on-going issues with neighbours.

Savings

Commenting on the plans, councillor Mark Winnington, cabinet member for economy and infrastructure, said: We are determined to ensure that we provide value for money in every area of our operations. In 2013 we achieved significant potential savings of 240,000 per annum in HWRC operations and increased opening to seven days per week at Cannock, Bibrook, leek and Stafford.

However, it is right that we continue to examine every area of our work to establish that we are making the best possible use of every pound we spend.

As part of that, a review into our HWRCs has examined in detail where the sites are located, how they are used and how well they perform. The report shows that significant further savings could be made by closing the HWRC sites at Burntwood and Biddulph without detrimentally affecting the overall service provided to the public.

All of Staffordshires HWRCs are currently operated by waste management firm FCC Environment, which was awarded a contract to manage the sites on behalf of the local authority in September 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Upon the award of the contract, Staffordshire and FCC said that improved working arrangements at the sites would allow the HWRCs to be run more efficiently. FCC, which took over from previous contractor Enterprise Plc, said it would spend around 5 million on updating and upgrading the Staffordshire sites.

Staffordshires other HWRC are located at Bilbrook, Burton, Cannock, Cheadle, Leek, Lichfield Newcastle-under-Lyme, Rugeley, Stafford, Stone, Uttoxeter and Wombourne.