What to expect from Sunderland's tip of the future as plans filed for new waste and recycling centre

Sunderland’s new household waste and recycling centre has taken a major step forward as city bosses prepare to submit a formal planning application.

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

More than 14,000 waste appointments made at Sunderland tip since...

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

Plans for the new household waste and recycling centre are due to be submitted in the next few days.

And if approved in future, the site would offer a range of new and improved facilities for Sunderland residents.

This includes a recycle and reuse shop, improved access and a ‘walk-in option’ for the first time.

Deputy Leader of Sunderland City Council and cabinet member for Environment and Transport, Coun Michael Mordey, welcomed the move.

“The submission of the planning application is a major step forward in our plans to provide residents with a much improved household waste and recycling centre,” he said.

“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.

“Although Beach Street remains hugely popular, with more than 14,000 appointments booked since it reopened to the public last month, anyone who has used it recently will recognise that it desperately needs replacing with something that is both bigger and better than the current site.

“The investment in the new centre ties in with our ambitious City Plan which is all about Sunderland becoming a more dynamic, healthy and vibrant city by 2030.

“Subject to planning permission, the new site will provide for the city’s bulky waste recycling needs well into the future as the city continues to grow and will cater for any future recycling opportunities.”

Coun Mordey added: “With its improved facilities, including a recycle and reuse shop and better access, which for the first time will include a walk-in option, it is also part of our commitment to a clean green city.

“It will deal with the existing issue of queuing and congestion and be more user friendly for our residents.

This was the queue outside Sunderland's tip as it reopened for the...

“Together with the recent reduction in bulky waste collection charges to £10, it will help us to recycle and reuse more household waste. ”

The current Beach Street site is open seven days a week, only closing on Christmas and New Year’s Day.

It has around 40,000 visits annually and collects around 17,000 tonnes of plastic, wood, rubble, garden waste and redundant electrical appliances, such as white goods or televisions.

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

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the need for social distancing, limits are in place on the types of waste currently being accepted at Beach Street.

Subject to approval, work on the new Pallion compound will start in late summer and finish in spring 2021.

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