Plans To Replace Ageing City Incinerator

20 February 2026
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Richard PriceWest Midlands


Plans to replace an aging incinerator with a more effective one are because of be examined 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 stated.


They included it could also generate a "significant" income which could be reinvested into local recycling and net zero plans.


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


The job could also be a major factor 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 discover an organisation to partner with, who could invest, design, build and run the brand-new facility.


That procedure was expected to take 18 months, with the proposed facility scheduled to be up and running in 2032.


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


The council wished to consider an "entrepreneurial" technique to running the center, he added.


Waste increase


This would involve a more significant in investment than other options, Gordon-McCusker stated.


But it was anticipated that the authority would earn a profit from the plan in the longer term, he declared, through the sale of electricity and heat in addition to costs credited other organisations using the website for their waste.


The brand-new website could handle about 230,000-290,000 tonnes of waste each year, which would be an increase of between 10-38% of current levels.


A public assessment will run throughout March and April.