What happens to your recycling and rubbish
Where your waste and recycling goes
Your waste and recycling is first collected by Ansa Environmental Services and is then taken to the state-of-the-art environmental hub in Middlewich for sorting.
How we compost your food and garden waste
Your garden and food waste is taken to our state-of-the-art composting plant in Leighton, near Crewe. The plant is operated by a contractor on behalf of Cheshire East Council.
Once the waste arrives at the site it is tipped off in a waste transfer hall and then loaded into special concrete tunnels for composting treatment. We monitor the temperatures to make sure that they are high enough to kill any pathogens that could otherwise spread or lead to diseases. The treated material is then placed in a maturation area for a few more weeks prior to being prepared for use in agriculture and horticulture.
From January 2024, you will need a subscription to our Garden Waste Recycling Scheme if you would like us to continue collecting your garden bin. If you subscribe, you may choose to continue recycling your food waste by putting it in your garden bin.
Where your non-recyclable material goes
Energy from waste
The materials that cannot be recycled are processed at Energy from Waste facilities and used to create electricity which goes in to the National Grid.
Landfill site
We send less than 5% of our black bin waste to landfill, this goes to Gowy landfill in Chester. This waste mainly comes from the household waste recycling centres that are open every day of the week, including Sunday. We cannot process this material through our Environmental Hub in Middlewich because it is only open 6 days per week.
Contact Waste and Recycling
Waste and Recycling - Cheshire East Council
Waste enquiry form
Call our Waste and Recycling Customer Service Team on 0300 123 5011 during office hours, 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday, if you're unable to use our form.
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Page last reviewed: 16 June 2023
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