The application follows the completion of a statutory Pre-Application Consultation. The depot would allow Caerphilly to process all kerbside recycling within the county borough and forms part of the council's Waste and Recycling Strategy, supporting the Welsh Government's 'blueprint' collections from 2028. Plans include advanced sorting and baling equipment, insulated glass containers to limit noise, and enclosed food waste storage with daily collections. The facility would not process residual household waste, for which existing arrangements would continue.

Councillor Chris Morgan, Caerphilly's Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling, said the proposal would "enable us to process materials locally, improve efficiency and help us meet ambitious Welsh Government recycling targets, while delivering a modern, fit-for-purpose depot for our workforce". The development is part-funded by the Welsh Government. Subject to planning approval, the council would proceed to procurement and construction.

Applicants had to address one or more of five priority household waste materials identified by Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) as offering greater scope for reuse or recycling: food, furniture, electricals, plastics and textiles. Organisations bid for the funding earlier this year.

The funded projects include a travelling textiles education van, cookery classes to cut food waste, furniture upcycling workshops, school assemblies and an electronics repair café. Lesley Worswick, chief executive of MRWA, said the 15 projects 'demonstrate exactly how we can rethink our relationship with waste, transforming it instead into a resource for our communities.'

The exemption covers stabilising agents, including ash residues from energy from waste plants, used to dry and solidify contaminated sediment before it can be sent to landfill. The Treasury, which confirmed the change alongside the November Budget, describes the current arrangement as a loophole. Eustice argues the exemption was a deliberate choice, in place since 1996, to protect ports and navigation routes, and that officials have presented settled policy as a drafting error.

He says the measure would raise around £25 million a year for the Exchequer while the cost to councils, likely to fall back on the Treasury under the new burdens doctrine, would leave little net benefit. Industry has warned that the April 2027 timetable allows no time to build the alternative treatment infrastructure required, which depends on planning permission and environmental permits that take years to secure.

The procurement is divided into six lots: green waste processing; rubble, plasterboard and hard plastics; mattress recycling and persistent organic pollutants; skip and fly-tipping waste; clinical waste; and hazardous waste. The new contracts would run for an initial three years from 1 November 2026, with an option to extend by a further year. The largest lot, mattress recycling and persistent organic pollutants, is valued at £1.81m.

City of Wolverhampton Council will procure the work through an above-threshold open tender with bids scored 60 per cent on price and 40 per cent on quality. The quality criteria will focus on environmental compliance and transparency over the end destination of waste, and the contracts' key performance indicators are intended to increase the amount of each material recycled and reduce the volume sent to landfill.

Robinson has worked for Visy, Sibelco and Cyclelink in recent years and previously served on the governing Council of The Recycling Association. He succeeds Paul Sanderson, with the two working together through a transition period before the full handover in August.

President Colin Clarke said Robinson's track record would tell from the outset. "Craig's experience having worked for, and run, member companies will mean he will understand from the beginning the challenges they face," he said.

The board, launched at All-Energy in Glasgow on 13 May, is chaired by Professor Karen Turner, director of the Centre for Energy Policy at the University of Strathclyde. It brings together senior figures from industry, government and the energy supply chain, and was established as a core intervention within Zero Waste Scotland’s new Circular Energy Infrastructure Roadmap.

Scotland’s net zero transition is driving rapid expansion of renewable energy infrastructure, while the UK remains heavily reliant on imports of critical raw materials. The board will focus on recovering, reusing and remanufacturing materials already embedded in existing infrastructure, including wind farms and oil and gas assets approaching decommissioning.