Every year we produce over 184,000 tonnes of waste in Cumbria.
Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council collect rubbish from over 225,000 households across Cumbria – the waste of around half a million people.
We throw out everything from nappies to food scraps and, if we’re being honest, most of us do so without giving it a second thought.
But if you do occasionally stop and think about where our general rubbish ends up, you wouldn’t be alone in thinking that it probably all ends up in landfill.
General rubbish collection is changing in Cumbria in 2025 and 2026 – read more about it here.
So, does it all end up in landfill?
You might be surprised to hear that actually, most of our waste does not end up in landfill.
Around 99 per cent of the things we throw out are diverted away from landfill to something called a Mechanical Biological Treatment facility, or an MBT for short.
There are two MBTs in Cumbria – one, Hespin Wood, is located on the outskirts of Carlisle and another is located on the outskirts of Barrow, Sowerby Woods.
There are several transfer stations across the county where waste is collected before being transported to these plants – this saves smaller bin lorries travelling long distances around the county.
Both of these facilities were set up in the early 2010s and since 2015 have managed to divert 99 per cent of our black bin waste from landfill.
In short, an MBT is essentially a giant tumble dryer that our waste is put into in order for it to be dried and shredded down.
The dried and shredded waste is then separated into different by-products that can be used for fuel, landfill restoration, aggregate and more.
So, do landfills still exist in Cumbria?
Before 1990, all of our rubbish in Cumbria was taken to landfill.
There were over 74 landfill sites in Cumbria at one point in time, but now, most of them are closed.
There are only three landfill sites remaining in the county, all of which are managed by Biffa and Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council.
These landfill sites are still used – but only around 11 tonnes of residual waste per year ends up in them, out of the 184,000 tonnes of waste handled annually.
Anything sent to landfill in the present day is typically things like residual bulky waste from Household Waste Recycling Centres or dust collected from MBTs.
The Government has also said it is looking into ways to phase out landfill and put stricter measures in place on waste incineration.
By 2030, it is aiming to send no food waste to landfill as part of its 25 Year Environment Plan.
But how does an MBT actually work?
Cumbria’s MBT facilities are run by Biffa and are almost entirely automated.
Put simply, MBTs separate and break down mixed black bin waste into a range of by-products that are diverted from landfill and reused in different ways.
These by-products include:
- Solid recovered fuel, made of paper, plastic, card and textiles – sent away to be used as fuel in UK cement kilns
- Organic fines – processed and used as soil in reclamation and restoration projects
- Glass and stone – processed for use as a secondary aggregate
- Metals (ferrous and non-ferrous) – recycled
To get these by-products, the waste must be shredded and dried down repeatedly before it undergoes a series of separation processes.
The drying process takes around 18 to 20 days and makes use of the heat generated from food waste breaking down – known as anaerobic fermentation, which helps the waste dry and stabilise further.
It is then separated out using different processes to capture the end products.
These processes include:
- Screening to remove large, bulky pieces of waste
- Magnetic separation, which pulls out ferrous metals like tin cans
- Eddy current separation, which separates non-ferrous metals like aluminium cans
- Density separators, which separate material based on weight
- Air classification, which removes light materials like paper
The prolonged drying process means that the centre is at a constant risk of fire, so temperature levels are strictly monitored by a control systems worker.
Fire events are typically caused by things like stray batteries and vapes ending up in general waste – yes, throwing batteries in the bin really does cause problems and can even be life-threatening.
In a one tonne household waste sample taken at Hespin Wood alone in October 2024, 104 batteries and 60 vapes were found
The MBT can hold 4,309 tonnes of waste at one time – so 104 batteries and 60 vapes is a lot to be found in just one tonne of waste.
Nick said: “One of the biggest problems the industry is facing at the moment is from batteries and vapes.
“If you’ve seen the stories of collection vehicles catching fire, that’s all from lithium-ion batteries that have a stored charge element in them.
“Vapes and batteries should go to designated collection points like HWRCs and supermarkets.
“Once they’re ignited, you actually can’t put them out. It’s like when cars catch on fire, the fire brigade have to leave them to burn out, it’s the same thing.
“They also release poisonous gasses and it’s getting worse year on year.”
How is my general waste used if it doesn’t go to landfill?
Once general waste goes through the MBT process, it turns into a series of by-products.
These include solid recovered fuel, which is made from paper, plastic, card and textiles and is sent away to be used as fuel in UK cement kilns.
In Cumbria, the fuel-by product created from our waste is sent to places like Hope cement works. This fuel makes up 51 per cent of how black bin waste is eventually used.
Organic fines which are processed and used as soil in things like landfill reclamation and restoration projects, this accounts for eight per cent of MBT waste. This soil is never used for agriculture and it makes up eight per cent of of how our black bin waste is used.
Glass and stone is processed for us as a secondary aggregate and metals both ferrous and non-ferrous are able to be recycled. It makes up four per cent of how our black bin waste is used.
The drying process sees 35 per cent of our black bin waste go to moisture loss and less than one per cent of the MBT’s material output is dust – which is sent to landfill.
So if our rubbish can be broken down in this way, why bother recycling?
Recycling is also essential to the MBT process as only residual black bin waste that has no value is broken down.
Recyclable items are more valuable and useful to the environment when properly recycled rather than just broken down into low value fuels, aggregates and biodegradable slurries.
While the MBT process does successfully divert waste from landfill, it is also not the Government’s preferred method of waste disposal.
MBTs do cut down on landfill dependency and greenhouse emissions – but anaerobic digestion can cause problems for the facilities.
These problems include grit and non-organic contaminants entering the system, which can cause maintenance issues that lead to high running costs.
It can also lead some facilities to fall short of sustainability objectives.
Got more questions on how it all works? Don’t worry, we’ll be sharing stories on the ins and outs of how waste processing works in Cumbria everyday this week as part of our Waste Week series.
What can I and can’t I put in my general rubbish bin?
In both Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness, you cannot put the following in general waste:
- Batteries and vapes
- Rubble
- Building waste
- Bricks
- Concrete
- Vehicle batteries
- Paint cans
- Oil cans
- Trade waste
- Hazardous waste (including gas bottles, paint and chemicals, clinical waste, syringes)
- Anything explosive
- Garden waste
- Clean recyclable items
Most of these items can be taken to your local Household Waste Recycling Centre instead. Read more below.
In the former Allerdale, Carlisle and Copeland areas, general waste bins and refuse sacks are used.
In Barrow, general rubbish bins are used, while blue bags are used in Eden and grey waste bins are used in the South Lakeland area.
In Westmorland and Furness, the hessian sack can hold several blue bags and should only contain household waste.
Gull or vermin proof sacks with a sealable lids are available from the council at a cost of £12.50 each.
You should make sure:
- You tie your blue bags before placing them in the hessian sack
- The lid on the sack is closed
- You take your sack back into your property after it is emptied
You may also wish to mark your house number on your sack.
You can put the following items in general waste bins:
- Non recyclable films and plastics
- Fish and meat bones
- Disposable nappies
- Pet waste, hair and bedding
- Food waste you don’t compost
- Bagged cool ashes and vacuum dust
- Tea and coffee grounds
- Bagged ash (don’t put ash loose into the bin, as it can blow into waste teams faces, and poses a health risk)
Extra waste can also be taken free of charge to a Household Waste and Recycling Centre.
Want to figure out your bin and recycling collection times? Find Cumberland times here and Westmorland and Furness collection times here.
So what about recycling? Does it really matter at all? Read more here.
Want to know about what you can and can’t recycle in Cumbria? Read more here.
