All the household waste and recycling materials collected
from homes in West Lancashire are taken to the waste transfer
station in Skelmersdale. There the material is stored before being
transported to the new Leyland Waste Technology Park .
The Skelmersdale waste transfer station
The £3 million station, opened in August 2010, has made the
collection service greener and more efficient by reducing the
number of journeys made by refuse wagons. Instead of
taking your waste to landfill sites, the local wagons now
deposit it at the transfer station.
The new facility is a partnership project between West
Lancashire Borough Council and Lancashire County Council. It
provides purpose-designed, under-cover storage facilities for
garden waste, glass, paper, card, cans, cardboard and textiles
where there is no risk of cross-contamination. Materials are stored
at the transfer station before being loaded into larger
vehicles for transportation to the Leyland Waste
Technology Park. This cuts mileage and road
congestion, and enables the local collection teams to get back
on their rounds more quickly.
The Leyland Waste Technology Park
All the household waste and recycling
materials collected in West Lancs are taken to the Leyland Waste
Technology Park.
Household waste
All the household waste collected from the grey bins is sorted
at the Waste Technology Park, and anything that can be
recycled is recovered. Anything left over is
is shredded and sent to be composted. The process
produces a compost-like soil improver called Organic Growth
Media - OGM. The OGM can be used to cover landfill sites, or
to improve the soil quality on brownfield sites. It can also be
used to plant trees.
Recycling materials
Using a range of technologies the plant separates the
plastic bottles, cans and glass. Once the recyclables are separated
they are sold to manufacturers to make new products. For example,
plastic bottles could become fleece jackets; tin cans could become
washing machine drums. Paper and card are baled together for
market without any further separation.
Garden waste
Garden waste is shredded and then taken into the composting
hall. Composting is a natural process in which bacteria and fungi,
in the presence of air and water, convert biodegradable materials.
The composting process takes place over a number of weeks and the
resulting product is bagged up and sold.
Related information