What happens to household waste in Kent?

Collected waste

We are responsible for disposing of the household waste collected from the 12 local councils. We work with them to find a local disposal site or Transfer Station (where they can deposit the waste before being bulked up and sent elsewhere). We also deal with the disposal of street cleansing and fly tipped waste.

Household waste recycling centres

There are 19 Household waste recycling centres in Kent (and 3 in Medway) where householders can take a variety of items for recycling or disposal. Waste from these centres is bulked up and transferred to an appropriate recycling or final disposal facility. We do not own or operate any waste processing or disposal facilities ourselves.

Turning waste to energy

Much of the waste we are responsible for goes to a waste-to-energy plant at Allington, near Maidstone. The facility opened in 2008 and now treats waste that is not reused, recycled or composted by burning it under controlled conditions to produce steam that is used to generate electricity. The plant also sorts and processes mixed recyclable materials collected from the kerbside by some of the local district/borough councils in Kent. For more information, visit the Kent Enviropower website.

At the moment some waste still goes to landfill, such as large bulky items that we are currently unable to recycle. However, our aim is to use sustainable ways, such as materials recovery and energy from waste, to dispose of your rubbish, and send as little to landfill sites as possible.

For more information about how we work in partnership with the 12 local councils to plan for the future, please look at the Kent Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy.