Milton Keynes City Council has announced plans to replace its three aging rubbish tips with new sites that are intended to be more modern facilities.

Proposals by the City Council intend to replace MK’s three current household recycling facilities in Bleak Hall, New Bradwell and Newport Pagnell with larger, greener and more modern Reuse and Recycling Centres in the north and south of the city.

Last year, local people dropped off nearly 25,000 tonnes of waste. MK City Council expects that as the city continues to grow, so will demand, with around 50% more waste and recycling estimated by their research to be taken to its tips by 2050.

At full capacity, the current sites can accommodate around 395,000 visits with no room for expansion, so the city council announced plans to almost double capacity by developing modern new Recycling and Reuse Centres in Wolverton and Snelshall that would accommodate 700,000 visits per year.

The City Council also say that the new facilities should benefit local residents with reduced congestion and noise for local residents as locations would be chosen that are better suited to host facilities, improved access for everyone, including people with mobility issues and those arriving on foot or bike, an extended range of items being accepted such as carpet for recycling and asbestos for secure disposal and a Reuse and Repair Shop where unwanted household items could be conveniently dropped off for reuse, giving them another useful life instead of being thrown away.

The City Council also plans for these new tips to be greener and more sustainable sites using solar power, with at least one site would be fully ‘off grid’ and powered by its own renewable energy provision, and greater weatherproofing with canopies and other considerations.

Interim Cabinet Member for the Public Realm, Cllr Akash Nayee, said, “We’re dealing with more waste and expect even more as the city grows, so it’s essential we plan for this. These modern and greener reuse and recycling centres would offer broader facilities in a better location and as such should be more accessible and pleasant for everyone to use.”

The announcement came in a week where the City Council also published plans to transform its existing waste recovery facilities in Wolverton into a site it has dubbed an Eco Park, with the intent that this will provide more green energy to the city and reduce carbon emissions. One of the proposed new Reuse and Recycling Centres would become part of the Eco Park.

A decision about the future of the MK’s tips will be made on 14 January.