Work begins on Leicestershire transfer station

Work is underway on Leicestershire county council’s new waste transfer station at the Bardon Business Park, southeast of the town of Coalville, the local authority announced on 1 July.Planning permission for the facility was granted in November last year and the council hopes the site will open in 2022. It will handle both residual waste and recyclables.With the county’s two current waste transfer stations at Whetstone and Loughborough operating at capacity, Leicestershire county council said the new site was “much needed” to add “capacity and resilience” to its network of facilities.Leicestershire county council told letsrecycle.com that once waste left the transfer station it would be taken to “one of several end destinations”, believed to include the Coventry & Solihull Waste Disposal Company’s energy from waste plant for residual waste.Transfer stationThe new waste transfer station is being built on land at Interlink Way South, Bardon, by construction firm Willmott Dixon.The county council says the development will include a warehouse style building and associated weighbridges, outside bays, office space and parking.The site will have solar panels and an “energy efficient” office building, including sensor lighting and water saving taps and toilets. There will also be electric vehicle charging points at the premises.The building and operations will comply with strict rules and regulations to ensure the facility has minimal impact on the business park and the surrounding area, the council says. Waste will only remain on site for a short period, usually less than 24 hours, before being taken to a treatment or disposal facility.LeicestershireLeicestershire county council is a waste disposal authority, so deals with all the waste collected at the kerbside by local district councils, along with that collected at its recycling and household waste sites.Representing an estimated population of nearly 700,000, Leicestershire had a household waste recycling rate of 45.5% in the 2019/20 financial year.