Modernising waste treatment for a cleaner, greener Stoke-on-Trent

For the last 30 years, general ‘black bag’ waste collected from households across Stoke-on-Trent has been taken to the Hanford Energy from Waste (EfW) facility for treatment.

Located in a predominantly industrial area to the south of the city (just off the ‘Sideway’ roundabout and close to the A500 Queensway), the EfW treats up to 210,000 tonnes of waste each year: a third of that is delivered by Stoke-on-Trent City Council with the remainder being waste from other local authorities and businesses.

At the Hanford EfW, the waste is burnt under strictly controlled conditions, with emissions tightly regulated and monitored by the Environment Agency (EA). The heat produced passes through a boiler, which contains pipes filled with water. The intense heat turns the water in the pipes into steam which is then used to drive a turbine-generator to produce electricity for the National Grid. The facility produces around 12MW of electricity - enough to power the equivalent of up to 30,000 homes.

Since it opened in 1995 (replacing a previous waste treatment facility that had been on the same site since the 1970s), the Hanford EfW has treated over four million tonnes of waste, providing the council with a safe, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable
alternative to landfill.

The contract to operate the Hanford EfW ends in March 2030 (with the option to extend for a further two years). By then, the facility will be 35 years old and it will be reaching the end of its serviceable life. The council has explored a number of refurbishment and new-build options and has concluded that building a new, state-of-the-art Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) on the Hanford site would deliver the best long-term environmental and financial outcomes for the city.

• Cleaner air -  whilst still compliant, the existing plant’s air pollution control systems are ageing. The new ERF would represent a significant upgrade and would be fitted with the latest available technology to capture, filter and clean the gases produced during the waste treatment process.
• More power - the new Hanford ERF would double electricity output compared to the existing plant, providing around 25MW of energy into the Grid - enough to power the equivalent of up to 50,000 homes.
• Low-carbon heat -  in addition to electricity, the new ERF would also export heat captured during the waste treatment process. A network of insulated pipes would connect the ERF to the city’s District Heat Network, providing low-carbon heating and hot water to homes, businesses and public buildings. This would significantly reduce the city’s carbon footprint and provide local residents, business owners and public service providers with protection from volatile global energy prices.
• Carbon-capture ready - the new ERF would be built carbon capture-ready. Carbon capture is a game-changing technology that literally ‘catches’ and stores carbon emissions from industrial processes before they are released into the atmosphere, delivering huge environmental benefits. The new ERF would be able to benefit from carbon capture in a way that would not be possible with the existing facility.
• Funding net zero projects - the council plans to be a majority stakeholder in the new ERF, entering into a long-term contract with a minority stakeholder who would also invest in, operate and maintain the new facility. This would be a modern, forwardthinking approach that would provide greatly improved long-term financial outcomes for local council taxpayers. It would, naturally, require upfront investment, but it means that instead of paying to use the facility, the council would make a profit from it thanks to the sale of exported electricity and heat and charges made to third-party customers to treat their waste. The council could use this money to invest in improving the city’s recycling infrastructure and other ‘Net Zero’ projects to help boost recycling rates, minimise waste and reduce our environmental impact.

The details of what the new facility could look like are not known yet. However we do know, because of the functions the building needs to perform, that it would consist of three main parts:

• Main building - where the waste would be received and treated
• Plant building - which would house the electricity-generating turbine and other process equipment such as the air pollution control systems and the cooling fans
• Stack (or chimney) - where the cleaned and filtered gases would be released, along with steam

There would also be some associated infrastructure to support the ERF’s connection to the city’s District Heat Network. 

The diagram below shows the maximum parameters we will be asking planning permission for. The council has just started a procurement exercise to find a commercial partner from the waste industry who would lead on the final design for the new ERF. The design would have to fit within the maximum parameters agreed by the Planning Authority. In addition, we would work with our commercial partner to ensure the final design is functional, delivers value for money and is sensitive to the local area.

The site boundary for the planning application is shown in red on the aerial plan (below). It is almost certain that the new ERF would be located within AREA A.

This would allow the existing plant (located in AREA B) to continue to operate while the new ERF is built; vital if the council is to continue to provide uninterrupted waste collection and treatment services. Once the new ERF is operational (by 2032), the existing plant would be decommissioned and demolished.

AREA C would not be used for the main ERF development, however it could potentially be used during the construction phase for parking or storage.

The precise position and orientation of the new ERF would be influenced by detailed ground condition surveys.

The Hanford Household Waste and Recycling Centre (HWRC), which is currently in AREA A, would need to be relocated. The council is exploring a number of options, including a temporary arrangement whereby all residents would use the Burslem HWRC on Federation Road. Changes would be made to the Burslem site to accommodate the increased demand. Residents will be provided with more details when they are available. What is clear is that this would be temporary; a commitment remains to ensure that, long-term, the south of the city is serviced by a dedicated and conveniently located HWRC facility.

The current plant can treat 210,000 tonnes of waste per year. The new ERF would be designed to treat between 230,000-290,000 tonnes of waste per year. This is an increase of between 10%-38%.

This additional capacity is being proposed for a number of reasons:

• Population growth -  we need to build around 19,000 new homes in and around Stoke-on-Trent over the next fifteen years. Even if we are successful in boosting local recycling rates (which we intend to be), those new homes will inevitably produce additional non-recyclable waste that needs to be safely treated. The new ERF would serve the local community for another 40 years or so; it needs to be future-proof in terms of maximum capacity.
• Landfill alternative - It is really important that, as a country, we send less of our waste to landfill because of the environmental damage it causes. Thanks to the current Hanford Energy from Waste plant, we send less than 1% of Stoke-on-Trent’s waste to landfill. But that’s not the case everywhere; across the country millions of tonnes of waste every year is either landfilled, exported abroad or incinerated in plants that don’t recover heat from the process. Government targets to phase out the use of landfill completely (driven by ever-increasing landfill taxes) will mean even more demand for alternative treatment methods. Current national projections suggest that even if the country’s average recycling rate increases to 50% (currently it’s 44%), by 2030 there will still be a 10 million tonne per year gap in waste treatment capacity. The relatively small additional increase in capacity at the new Hanford ERF would help ensure that more of this non-recyclable waste is treated in the most environmentally sustainable way possible.
• Energy security - 43.8% of energy used in the UK in 2024 was imported, up 3.4 percentage points on 2023. It is vital that as a country we improve our energy security by generating more of our own power and reducing our reliance on volatile global energy markets. Modern and efficient Energy Recovery Facilities like the one planned for Hanford can play an important role in achieving this.

As part of the planning application process we will be carrying out a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
This will identify any potential environmental impacts resulting from the proposed development and how these can be minimised and mitigated. The results of the EIA will be detailed in the planning application being submitted later this year.

• Biodiversity - The project would deliver a minimum 10% Biodiversity Net Gain (in line with national guidelines for major developments). This ensures that habitats are left significantly better off than before development.
• Air quality - the new ERF would need to apply to the Environment Agency (EA) for a permit to operate (this is completely separate from the planning process). The EA would issue a permit that sets strict limits on the emissions that can be released by the ERF, which ensures human health and the environment are protected. The new facility would be installed with the very latest emissions control systems to ensure these strict limits are met.
• Local traffic - Any increase in traffic movements to the new ERF would be offset by the relocation of the Hanford Household Waste and Recycling Centre.

There are two main alternatives to building a new ERF:

• Decommission the existing Hanford EfW and export our waste somewhere else for treatment - this would increase our carbon footprint as we would need to transport waste potentially long distances. It would also cost an estimated £18million per year in treatment and transport costs (compared to building a new Hanford ERF which would generate an income 
  for the council). Some of that exported waste could end up in landfill, which would be a big backward step from an environmental perspective and is something we are keen to avoid.
• Refurbish the existing Hanford EfW - this would cost a similar amount to building a new facility from scratch. A refurbished facility would be less reliable than a new plant and it would have a shorter serviceable lifespan. It would also not be possible to make the plant carbon-capture ready or to supply heating and hot water to the District Heating Network, representing two huge missed opportunities.

Financial modelling and scenario-testing exercises have consistently returned the same conclusion; that building a new plant would be the best option, both from an environmental and financial perspective.