Cambridgeshire County Council is facing calls to sort recycling locally but says the process is not straightforward
A council faces calls for a new recycling centre to end a “ridiculous” agreement to send waste 400 miles away for sorting. Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council’s recycling waste has been transported to Newry in Northern Ireland since March 2025.
Susie Williams, a member of the public, asked Cambridgeshire County Council how likely it is that a recycling centre could be built in Cambridgeshire and when this could happen. She said: “The trucks generate considerable amounts of carbon emissions and particulates, which is not really acceptable for two councils who are aiming to become net-zero.”
Cllr Ros Hathorn, chair of the county council’s environment and green investment committee, said that the waste market and providers “do not serve the East of England particularly well” and don’t have “sufficient capacity” to take their recycling.
The Liberal Democrat councillor said the waste partnership, Recycling in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (RECAP) which includes all local authorities in Cambridgeshire, is starting to look at other solutions.
She said: “It is not as straightforward as just building an industrial unit, putting some kit in there and switching it on – it’s a long, expensive process. It requires a licence from the Environment Agency, which is not straightforward to get.
“It needs to get planning permission and, as a new facility would create significant traffic in its area, there is likely to be objections to it.”
Cllr Hathorn said that the upcoming local government reorganisation “has slowed down the prospects of any big project being started in the near future”.
The council was asked to approve a new strategy document for RECAP. Cllr Darren Green said he was “very encouraged” to see it recommended recycling take place locally.
The Green Party councillor said: “I think this council must do everything it can to change this. Other counties can process their blue bin recycling locally – why can’t Cambridgeshire?”
Cllr Mike Black said that “everyone can see that this looks ridiculous”. He called it an example of market failure and “privatisation not working”.
The Labour councillor said: “I don’t like hearing local government review as an excuse for doing nothing or delaying things. We have a new government after 15 years of the same, we have a vast need for change – and we need to change quickly.
“I don’t think we should be saying that local government review stops councils from being innovative and planning for the future. Indeed, I think on these sorts of issues, we should be trying to get things done as quickly as possible.”
Cllr Steve Tierney disagreed, saying “things aren’t always as simple as they appear”. The Conservative councillor said: “It’s not market failure when markets don’t deliver the outcome you want – that’s market reality – it would only be failure if they simply couldn’t do it.
“It’s not ideal to send things to Northern Ireland, I accept that. I would like to see a change that changes that, but only if it’s cost-effective for the taxpayer.
“If this works out to be the cheapest way to do it for the taxpayer, then I’d carry on supporting doing it – for the simple reason I don’t think we need to be layering costs upon the tax payer for virtue projects.”
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