Bletchley Landfill Today
Bletchley landfill site is located within the clay pit that was part of the former Newton Longville brickworks and has been operating as a landfill site serving Milton Keynes for more than 30 years.
The site has been under the ownership of Waste Recycling Group (WRG) since it bought the site from the Shanks Group in June 2004. The current planning permission for the site allows for the landfilling of waste until 2022.
Key facts and figures:
- The site is located 6.5km to the south of Milton Keynes, near to Bletchley and Newton Longville and employs 24 full-time staff
- It is currently receiving approximately 100,000 tonnes of non-hazardous waste per month from households and local businesses in Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas including Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and also from London and other parts of the South East.
How Bletchley is managed:
Modern landfill sites are designed and operated to minimise any potential impact on both the environment and local communities. As a leading UK waste management company, WRG is committed to fulfilling these responsibilities.
At Bletchley, all waste is covered with soils at the end of each day to prevent odour or other nuisance problems, such as birds and litter. Additional measures such as deodorising sprays are also used when required.
In 2000, under previous owners, there were odour issues at Bletchley. Significant investment has since gone into the site to upgrade the collection system for leachate (formed as rainwater passes through waste) and the gas collection system which is required to avoid uncontrolled emissions of landfill gas.
Landfill gas generation
Landfill gas is naturally formed through the decomposition of waste. Historically, this gas was burnt off using flares. At Bletchley, along with many other WRG sites, landfill gas is harvested to create electricity through onsite generators.
Currently the site generates 5.1MW of electricity, which is exported to the national grid; this is enough to support the needs of more than 5,100 homes.
The strategic importance of Bletchley Landfill Site
While Government policy is to divert as much waste as possible away from landfill, it recognises that landfill will continue to play a significant role in the final disposal of residual waste. As other sites are filled and restored, sites such as Bletchley, which has a large permitted void with good road access and ideal site geology, will increase in importance. Bletchley Landfill Site will therefore remain an important resource for Milton Keynes to accommodate local waste.
For many years, landfill sites in the Eastern and South East regions have assisted in accommodating waste from London, which does not have sufficient suitable disposal sites within its own boundaries. The emerging South East Regional Plan looks to Milton Keynes, along with other authorities in the region, to assist in meeting this need. When Brogborough Landfill closed at the end of January 2008, Bletchley began to receive more waste from outside the local area in accordance with the consent granted by MK Council in 2002.