Lead paragraph
Stevenage Borough Council is aiming to promote and increase recycling rates across SBC sites, residential housing and commercial buildings.
Loading
WR1Increase Recycling Rates
Progress
On time
- Discussion
- Not started
- Initial scoping
- Planning stage
- Underway
- Continuous
Description
On average, a person within the UK throws away around 400 kg of waste every year. During 2025/26, the Council collected more than 29,500 tonnes of waste, with approximately 11,000 tonnes recycled or composted, and just over 18,500 tonnes unable to be recycled or composted, also known as residual waste.
Based on these figures, the average Stevenage resident produces 323 kg of waste per year, under the national average.
What role does SBC play?
SBC is part of the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership (HWP), where county, district and borough councils work together to reduce, reuse, and recycle waste. Different initiatives and campaigns have been put in place thanks to the HWP. For more information on these initiatives, please see the tasks section below.
In addition to the partnership and regular collections, the Council also provides local schools with recycling services for their paper, glass, tins, plastic and food waste. Moreover, the Council offers educational opportunities on reducing waste, recycling, litter and sustainability. Further information: Schools Recycling and Support.
Where does my waste go?
- Residual waste disposal arrangements are managed by Hertfordshire County Council. Since April 2024, 100% of non-recycled waste is transferred to an energy recovery facility, also known as Energy from Waste (EfW) facility, with zero waste to landfill.
- These facilities are based in Buckinghamshire.
- Garden waste is transferred to an in-vessel composting (IVC) facility near Buntingford. To find out more about IVCs, please visit Vessel Composting IVC.
- Food waste is transferred to an anaerobic digestion facility, between Baldock and Royston. Food waste is broken down to produce biogas and biofertilizer. To find out more please visit www.biogen.co.uk.
- For recycling, SBC operates an in-house collection service, and collects materials separately (paper & card, glass, and plastics & cans), having private arrangements for their onwards journey. Paper and card are sent on to a recycling facility in Essex and glass goes to a reprocessing facility in Portugal. Plastics and cans go to a facility in Kent, where plastics and cans are sorted into metals and different types of plastics and then continue their onward journey for reprocessing, both in the UK and abroad.
What can I recycle?
Find out more about what you can and cannot recycle at home using Your A-Z Recycling Guide (contensis.com) and where you can take items for recycling at Recycling Centre (stevenage.gov.uk) and Recycling Banks (stevenage.gov.uk).
Read more
- Stevenage Borough Council: Household Waste Management Policy
- Stevenage Borough Council: A-Z Recycling Guide
Tasks
What are we doing?
- 04/2030
Kerbside Flexible Plastics Recycling
Introduce a kerbside recycling service for collection of flexible plastics to all households by 1 April 2030.
- 01/01/2035
Increase recycling rates from 40% to 60% by 2035
What has been done?
- 31/12/2025
Flat Block Recycling Pilot Scheme - Phase 2
Phase 2 of the flat black recycling pilot scheme is complete. Suitable sites were selected to improve recycling at flats through the installation of new infrastructure, bins and signage. Post-installation monitoring is in progress.
- 31/03/2025
Neighbourhood Recycling Bring-Bank Sites
Upgraded eight neighbourhood recycling bring-bank sites across the town to support waste diversion beyond kerbside collections. This project involved installing new signage, bins, and improved infrastructure to make recycling more accessible for residents. The upgrades were made possible through a combined funding approach.
- 25/10/2023
Host a Recycling Road Show
The Recycling Road Show was hosted in the Event Island for residents to join and learn about SBC's recycling process. SBC's waste management partners also joined to educate residents on the process of mixed and glass recycling. The space also served as an opportunity for residents to tell officers what they would need to improve their recycling habits.
- 31/07/2023
Flat Block Recycling Pilot Scheme - Phase 1
The flats recycling pilot project commenced in August 2022 and concluded in July 2023. New recycling infrastructure and signage were installed at six pilot flat blocks across Stevenage. New communications materials were issued and monitoring of the use of the recycling bins before and after installation was completed. The project saw a huge 185% increase in the amount of recycling collected across the six sites. This has the potential to generate an additional £3,530.28 of revenue annually from recycling tonnage collected at these six sites. We are exploring options to expand the recycling pilot as part of the second phase of the project.
Summary and contacts
Completion
1% readyOn time
Timeline
Continuous
Responsible organisations
Information updated 27/07/2026