Plans To Replace Ageing City Incinerator

20 February 2026
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Richard PriceWest Midlands


Plans to replace an ageing incinerator with a more efficient one are because of be examined by city leaders.


A 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 said.


They added it could likewise create a "significant" income which might be reinvested into local recycling and net no schemes.


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


The task might likewise be a significant factor to the city's district heating network to offer public structures with low-carbon heating and hot water, powered by geothermal energy, a spokesperson stated.


The city council's cabinet is being asked to start a formal procurement procedure to find an organisation to partner with, who could invest, style, construct and run the brand-new center.


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


Cabinet member Finlay Gordon-McCusker stated the existing center had burnt more than 4 million tonnes of rubbish given that it opened in 1995, offering a "sustainable alternative" to .


The council wished to consider an "entrepreneurial" method to running the center, he included.


Waste increase


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


But it was anticipated that the authority would make a profit from the plan in the longer term, he claimed, through the sale of electricity and heat along with fees credited other organisations using the site for their waste.


The new site might manage about 230,000-290,000 tonnes of waste each year, which would be an increase of between 10-38% of current levels.


A public consultation will run throughout March and April.