Plans To Replace Ageing City Incinerator

20 February 2026
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Richard PriceWest Midlands


Plans to replace an aging incinerator with a more efficient one are due to be analyzed by city leaders.


A brand-new energy recovery plant, for Hanford, near Stoke City's Bet365 Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, would power the equivalent of about 50,000 homes, the authority stated.


They included it might likewise produce a "significant" income which might be reinvested into regional recycling and net zero plans.


The contract for the current incinerator at Hanford ends in March 2030, when it will be 35 years of ages and at the end of its functional life.


The job could also be a significant factor to the city's district heating network to provide public buildings with low-carbon heating and hot water, powered by geothermal energy, a spokesperson stated.


The city council's cabinet is being asked to begin an official procurement process to find an organisation to partner with, who might invest, design, develop and run the brand-new center.


That procedure was expected to take 18 months, with the proposed facility scheduled to be up and running in 2032.


Cabinet member Finlay Gordon-McCusker said the current center had burnt more than four million tonnes of rubbish since it opened in 1995, offering a "sustainable alternative" to garbage dump.


The council desired to consider an "entrepreneurial" approach to running the center, he included.


Waste boost


This would involve a more considerable in advance financial investment than other options, Gordon-McCusker stated.


But it was anticipated that the authority would make a from the scheme in the longer term, he declared, through the sale of electrical power and heat as well as charges credited other organisations utilizing the site for their waste.


The new website might handle about 230,000-290,000 tonnes of waste each year, which would be a boost of in between 10-38% of existing levels.


A public assessment will run during March and April.