Sunderland's new household waste and recycling centre opens to the public

It replaces the current Beach Street site which opened in the early 80's and last year handled more than 193,000 visits and over 9,600 tonnes of recyclable materials and waste.

At 16,000 sq m - more than five times the size of the current site and roughly the size of two football pitches, the new Pallion HWRC will make it much easier for residents to recycle and dispose of their waste, offering much improved facilities and better access. It is capable of handling 3,000 vehicles a day and more than a million visits annually.

Councillor Graeme Miller, Leader of Sunderland City Council, said: "This is all about us listening to our residents. They told us that they wanted to see bigger and better household waste and recycling facilities and that's something we have taken on board with this fantastic new centre.

"Sunderland is committed to being a clean green city and this brilliant facility will make it much easier for our residents to recycle and dispose of their waste. It should also make for a much more pleasant experience with better access to the site, undercover skips, generous parking, manoeuvring and offloading spaces and no steps between parking spaces and skips. It is also large enough to provide for Sunderland's city's bulky waste and recycling needs well into the future as our city continues to grow, including any future recycling opportunities."

"In line with the council's commitment to the green agenda, the new site is also much more energy efficient, with solar panels, rainwater harvesting and low energy lighting all helping to contribute towards our low carbon ambitions. In keeping with these green credentials, we've even used recycled concrete from the Rolls Royce buildings which once stood on the site in its construction."

Like Beach Street, the new Pallion site will operate an appointments system for anyone using the site.

Deputy Leader of Sunderland City Council, Councillor Claire Rowntree, said: "We've kept the online booking system which has proved really popular with our residents since we first introduced it at Beach Street in 2020 and guarantees that any delays will be minimal

"I'm also very excited about the new re-use shop due to open this summer where residents can bring and shop for pre loved household items and furniture. This will be operated by a charity and will allow items people no longer have a use for, which might otherwise end up going to energy from waste, to be recycled and resold."

The new HWRC will handle everything from bagged household and garden waste, cardboard and wood, small and small domestic appliances, TVs and computers, small fridges, metal, soil, rubble, plasterboard, fluorescent tubes, engine and vegetable oil, textiles to household recycling including plastic, cans, glass, paper. About 53.7 % per cent of all the waste currently delivered to the Beach Street site is recycled. The remainder is sent to an energy from waste facility on Teesside.

The site will open seven days a week, only closing on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. For further information, to book an appointment and for details of opening times visit www.sunderland.gov.uk/hwrc