This is what Sunderland's new household waste recycling centre will look like

Sunderland City Council is looking to relocate its current Beach Street centre in Deptford to the former Rolls Royce site on Pallion Industrial Estate.

If proposals go ahead, the new, bigger site would have improved facilities, including a recycle and re-use shop and better access, cutting down the queue and a walk-in option to drop off items, making it more user-friendly the one already open at Beach Street.

The council allocated £5 million for the Pallion works and a mini-recycling centre in the Coalfields area as part of its budget setting in 2018.

A planning application will be submitted for Pallion in the next few weeks and subject to approval, work on that compound will start in late summer and finish in spring 2021.

It is part of the City Plan, which is looking to make Sunderland “a more dynamic, healthy and vibrant city by 2030” and part of its commitment to being a green city.

Councillor Michael Mordey, deputy leader, said: "We've been looking to relocate the centre for a number of years because Beach Street has reached its capacity and it is no longer fit for purpose.

"Although we've made many improvements over the years, Beach Street has been in operation since the late 1970s and we need a more efficient and bigger site, with better facilities and opportunities to recycle and re-use more waste materials.

“Together with the proposed reduction in bulky waste collection charges to £10, it will help us to recycle and re-use more household waste.

“Residents have told us that they want to see better household waste recycling facilities.

“We have taken this on board with our plans for this fantastic new centre.”

Beach Street, which only closes on Christmas and New Year's Day, has around 40,000 visits annually and collects around 17,000 tonnes of plastic, wood, rubble, garden waste, redundant electrical appliances, such as white goods or televisions.

About 60% of the waste that is delivered to the Beach Street is recycled, with the remainder sent for power generation through the council’s energy from waste facility on Teesside.