SUPPORT has been given for a new waste centre operating 24 hours a day by the A12 in Suffolk.Suffolk Coastal District Council has backed the scheme unveiled by Viridor Waste Management Ltd for the new facility at the Foxhall landfill site.

SUPPORT has been given for a new waste centre operating 24 hours a day by the A12 in Suffolk.

Suffolk Coastal District Council has backed the scheme unveiled by Viridor Waste Management Ltd for the new facility at the Foxhall landfill site.

The scheme had been criticised by Martlesham Parish Council who are worried about the noise disturbance for householders in Eagle Way and extra lorry traffic. Councillors were also worried that the large building would distract drivers on the A12.

The waste transfer station will act as a base from which waste collected by refuse trucks can be reloaded onto lorries and taken elsewhere for processing, diverting around 65,000 tonnes of waste away from landfill each year with at least 15,000 tonnes of which will be recyclables.

Gordon Laing, vice-chairman of Suffolk Coastal's south area development control sub committee, said: “Waste management has become a big issue for us all, with landfill sites filling up fast and the growing need to achieve higher levels of recycling.

“In this district we are now diverting 44 per cent of household waste away from landfill thanks to our residents' recycling and composting efforts but the latest estimates are that landfill sites across the county could be full in six years or so.

“The council has been working hard together with residents to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and this transfer facility is important to support those efforts and help reduce the pressure on Foxhall Landfill Site by diverting large amounts of waste away from it.”

The county council will make the final decision.