AS part of a £15m programme of improvements to waste management facilities in the county, SITA Cornwall has submitted a planning application to Cornwall Council for a Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) and Refuse Transfer Station (RTS) in Launceston to replace the current facilities at Bangors Quarry.

James Pike, General Manager for SITA UK in the south west said, "One of our main priorities is to maximise the amount of waste that can be recycled. The new HWRC at Launceston will accept a wide variety of materials, from batteries and fluorescent tubes to gas bottles and oil. It will provide the communities surrounding Launceston with a much-needed modern alternative to the current site at Bangors Quarry.

"The new Recycling Centre will be designed on two levels to avoid members of the public having to climb lots of steps. This will make the site safer and easier for people to use. There will also be more space on the site to provide additional containers to take a greater range of recyclables such as plastic bottles and rubble".

The proposed RTS will provide a facility for waste brought in smaller collection vehicles to be deposited and transferred to larger vehicles for onward treatment or disposal. This will help to reduce the number of lorries on the road and also cuts carbon emissions.

If it is granted planning permission, the new HWRC and RTS will be located at Pennygillam Industrial Estate in Launceston, which has good access to main transport routes and would serve a large catchment area. The site will also be carefully landscaped to ensure it fits in well with the surrounding area, says SITA.

The application will be subject to a period of stakeholder and public consultation, which will take place over the next four weeks.

The planning application is available to view at Cornwall Council online. CD copies of the planning application are also available on request. To obtain copies of the CD, please contact the SITA Cornwall helpdesk on 08456 300 300, Cornwallhelpdesk@sita.co.uk">Cornwallhelpdesk@sita.co.uk or SITA Cornwall Helpdesk, United Mines Landfill Site, St. Day, Redruth, Cornwall, TR16 5HU.

SITA Cornwall takes part in a community liaison group which meets to discuss the proposals and to answer any questions members may have. Local residents of the proposed Launceston site interested in joining the liaison group should contact the SITA Cornwall helpdesk 08456 300 300.

SITA Cornwall currently manages 12 Household Waste Recycling Centre throughout Cornwall.

In 2007 SITA Cornwall received approximately 1.6 million visitors and accepted in the region of 90,000 tonnes of material. £15 million is being invested by SITA Cornwall to upgrade and modernise HWRCs and to build new recycling facilities, this has already seen an increase in recycling rates from an average of 35 per cent to over 55 per cent.

HWRCs are useful for things that are not accepted by kerbside collection services or bring banks such as soil and rubble, batteries, asbestos, fridge freezers, wood, metal, gas bottles and fluorescent tubes.