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 analyzed 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 included it might also generate a "considerable" earnings which might be reinvested into local recycling and net zero plans.


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


The project might also be a significant contributor to the city's district heating network to offer public structures with low-carbon heating and hot water, powered by geothermal energy, a spokesperson said.


The city board's cabinet is being asked to begin an official procurement process to find an organisation to partner with, who could invest, style, build and run the brand-new facility.


That process was anticipated to take 18 months, with the proposed center arranged to be up and running in 2032.


Cabinet member Finlay Gordon-McCusker said the present facility had burnt more than 4 million tonnes of rubbish considering that it opened in 1995, offering a "sustainable alternative" to landfill.


The to think about an "entrepreneurial" method to running the facility, he added.


Waste increase


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


But it was anticipated that the authority would earn a profit from the plan in the longer term, he claimed, through the sale of electrical power and heat along with fees charged to other organisations using the website for their waste.


The new site might handle about 230,000-290,000 tonnes of waste each year, which would be a boost of between 10-38% of present levels.


A public assessment will run during March and April.