THE Earlswood recycling depot is set to be expanded to improve the borough's recycling rate.
Although recycling has increased over the last year, the Horley Road depot is now working at full capacity and is unable to cope with any new intake of recyclable waste.
It's also believed the expansion of the Earlswood site would save Reigate and Banstead Borough Council close to £85,000 a year by increasing the amount of recycled products and reducing landfill charges.
If given the green light the new "bulking facility" will store black bag waste, food waste and mixed recycling from both Reigate and Banstead Borough Council and Tandridge District Council before it is transported elsewhere for treatment and reprocessing.
The first stage of the plans have already been approved by the borough council's executive They will now go out to public consultation before a planning application is submitted later this year. Work could begin at the start of next year and is set to take ten months to complete.
Reigate and Banstead executive member for recycling and street services Allen Kay said the need for a bigger facility was testament to the success of improving residents' recycling rates.
"We're going to consultation with local residents and then we'll submit a plan," he added.
"At the moment we've got an idea what we'd like but it's got to be agreed.
"Everything is going fairly well but we need to manage our waste better and we need it in one site. It means we don't have to go to other sites and pay more to store our recycling there."
On the borough's recycling rate, Mr Kay continued: "We're still getting come contamination but we're still doing the road shows to get people to put things in the right bins. We know the waste isn't going to landfill so that will help keep the charges down."
Since the introduction of the council's new recycling scheme last year, household recycling has increased from 37 per cent to 55.
If the recycling depot expansion goes ahead, the site would still be owned by the council but managed by waste management company SITA.
It would be paid for through the county council's private finance initiative with the company.
