Around 50% of that is recyclable, a further 20% is wood which is separated out, and the remaining non-recyclable material goes to our Energy From Waste plant at Great Blakenham, where it is burned to create energy to power homes and businesses.
If I’m honest, in an ideal world, we wouldn’t have any waste and recycling to deal with. The golden rule is that we all reduce the amount of waste we generate in the first place. Or failing that, we reuse what we can.
But for now, our recycling centres continue to provide a valuable service. And so, Suffolk County Council continues to invest in them to make it easier and safer for you to recycle.
Our Foxhall Road site, just outside Ipswich, underwent an £8 million upgrade which was completed in March 2024. It’s one of our busiest sites which sees 180,000 visits each year.
We relocated our Haverhill site, and following a £2m development, it opened in November 2024 – with more than triple the capacity of the old site.
Looking ahead, we have just secured planning permission to develop a new site for the heart of Ipswich. The current recycling centre is at Portman’s Walk, which we will be relocating to Whittle Road, on the Hadleigh Road Industrial Estate. Capacity will be significantly increased, there will be better vehicle access, no steps for customers to navigate and many more booking slots available.
We will also be investing in our centre at Stowmarket, making essential improvements for a better experience.
One of the most impactful investments we have made in recent times, has been the introduction of the online booking system. Prior to your visit, you are asked to book online, requesting a 15-minute slot at a time that suits you. This has dramatically reduced queueing and congestion at the recycling centres, by spreading visitors more evenly during opening hours.
I usually find myself making booking on the day - clearing the garden or the garage is often an impromptu weekend decision! But I’ve always found that I can grab a convenient time, there’s usually a slot available roughly when I want it.
We have just had the results back from our recycling centre customer survey, and I’m delighted that we didn’t receive one complaint about the booking service – it continues to be a huge success. So much so, that other councils from around the country have seen how well it works and want to introduce it where they are.
We interviewed 12,196 residents on their experiences of using our recycling centres - an overwhelming 98% of people rated the service as satisfactory or better. This has been consistently high for a number of years now.
One of the offers at our recycling centres, that you may not be aware of, is being able to donate items for re-use.
At each of our sites we have orange re-use containers, where you can leave items which could be given another life by someone else. We’d much rather see this, than items thrown in the bin.
All sorts of things are welcome: TVs, monitors, PCs, Sky boxes, DVD players, consoles, laptops, audio equipment, power tools, bikes, Dysons, Henrys, mowers, strimmers, small furniture, books and toys… anything really which is in good condition and could be given a new home.
At our Bury St Edmunds and Foxhall Road sites, we have shops which we run in conjunction with the Benjamin Foundation, which sell your donated items. Profits generated by the store help to fund the charity’s work with local children, young people, and families - supporting these stores means you are helping local, vulnerable young people too.
For more information about recycling in Suffolk, visit www.suffolkrecycling.org.uk
Thank you for reducing your waste, and thank you for recycling!
Councillor Chris Chambers
Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport Strategy, Planning and Waste
