Work officially starts at waste transfer station in Herts
It's designed to improve waste disposal and slash the number of miles covered by the county’s dust carts
WORK has begun on a £24m waste transfer station that’s designed to improve waste disposal and slash the number of miles covered by the county’s dust carts.
Currently rubbish collected from the kerbside across the county is taken to the Waterdale waste transfer station, near Watford.
And once there, the waste is transferred to bulk trucks – each carrying the equivalent of five dust carts – before being taken away for disposal.
But the county council has plans for a second waste transfer station to the east of the county, in Ware.
The additional facility will increase the county’s capacity to deal with collected waste overall – ensuring it can cope with the county’s growing population.
And it will prevent the need for thousands of dust cart journeys across the county to Watford every year.
Work officially began at the site – which sits behind the Ware Recycling Centre, on Westmill Road – with a “ground-breaking” ceremony on Monday (February 26).
And the facility – which could deal with up to 140,000 tonnes of waste a year – is expected to be up-and-running by January 2026.
Following the ceremonial ground-breaking, leader of the county council Cllr Richard Roberts said it was a “significant project which reflects our vision for a cleaner, greener, healthier Hertfordshire”.
And he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “This waste transfer station – here in Ware – will allow us to minimise the number of journeys that our waste trucks will take.
“This is critical infrastructure for waste management in the county – part of a £1.1bn infrastructure spend over four years.”
Cllr Roberts says the design of the building – which will be powered from electricity generated by landfill gas and will be fitted with solar panels – would “meet the needs of modern-day waste management in a more sustainable way”.
And he highlights “state-of-the-art” measures that are designed to minimise noise and odour.
In addition to transferring waste, the facility will also have a shredder – so that bulky items can be shredded and sent on for disposal with other waste.
According to the planning application the main building on the site will be up to 11.8m high, with a footprint of 58m by 39m.
And in addition to a second smaller transfer building – measuring 12m by 12m – there will be office space and toilets, with parking for up to 12 cars including six EV charging points.
The facility, according to the application, is expected to operate between the hours of 5am and 5pm Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 4pm on Saturdays and 7.30am to 12noon on Sundays.
According to the planning permission it could operate until 9pm on weekdays. But council officers say this provision is a contingency for extraordinary circumstances only.