South Gloucestershire Council will build a new Sort It centre and waste management facility in Filton, to improve recycling services for residents and to increase capacity to manage household waste from the growing communities in the Cribbs Patchway New Neighbourhood, Charlton Hayes and former Airfield housing developments.
We have this week completed the purchase of the Viridor Filton Collections Unit on the North Bristol Park industrial estate as part of a £6.5 million project, which will see the new services delivered in 2023.
Initially, Viridor will continue to operate from the site, but after they vacate in 2021 we will demolish the existing facilities and deliver:
- A new transfer station – where collection vehicles can drop off waste collected from households
- A new Sort It centre – to serve residents who currently use the Little Stoke facility, with an improved facility as well as to meet the needs of expanding local communities
- A depot for waste vehicles – allowing collection trucks to be based closer to the areas they serve, reducing traffic movements and their impact on local roads and the environment
- We will also explore the option of a reuse shop, whereby certain unwanted but serviceable items can be safety tested by our staff and made available for sale second-hand.
Once the new facility is complete, to modern standards similar to the recently redeveloped and improved Sort It centres at Mangotsfield and Yate, the existing Little Stoke Sort It centre will be closed.
Cabinet Member for Tourism and Communities, Councillor Paul Hughes, said: “We are a growing community and we are committed to growing sustainably and it is important that we invest now for the future infrastructure to support new communities as well as existing residents.
“By redeveloping this site, we will be able to manage waste and recycling services closer to the growth areas around Filton. It will help us further improve residents’ experience of the recycling service because the new Sort It centre will be larger than at Little Stoke. We are already recycling more than 51 per cent of our household waste and we’re well on the way to reaching our 60 per cent target.
“The new facility will have the capacity to manage the extra waste that comes from new homes and its location will reduce the number and length of journeys taken by the trucks across the district to collect waste and recyclable materials.
“The projects outlined in our infrastructure plans form part of our commitment to improving the places we live and work, to ensure that South Gloucestershire remains the best place to live and work.”
Since the implementation of the council’s Waste Strategy 2015-2019, which saw the change to weekly recycling and smaller black bins, South Gloucestershire now recycles 51.6 per cent of all household waste. We have collected an extra 4,495 tonnes of recycling since January 2018, thanks to the efforts of our residents to recycle more.
