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 due to be analyzed by city leaders.


A new energy healing 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 added it could likewise create a "considerable" income which might be reinvested into local recycling and net absolutely no plans.


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


The task might likewise be a significant factor to the city's district heating network to provide public with low-carbon heating and hot water, powered by geothermal energy, a spokesperson said.


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


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


Cabinet member Finlay Gordon-McCusker stated the present facility had actually burnt more than 4 million tonnes of rubbish because it opened in 1995, offering a "sustainable alternative" to garbage dump.


The council wished to think about an "entrepreneurial" approach to running the facility, he included.


Waste increase


This would involve a more significant upfront investment than other alternatives, Gordon-McCusker said.


But it was expected that the authority would make a revenue from the plan in the longer term, he claimed, through the sale of electrical energy and heat in addition to charges charged to other organisations using the site 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 consultation will run throughout March and April.