Veolia ES Birmingham operates two major waste transfer stations in Birmingham that play a key role in managing the waste arisings of the city and act as focal points for recycling management.

The two transfer stations, in the north and the south of the city, accept kerbside collected waste from Birmingham City Council refuse vehicles. This waste is then bulked up and transported either to the recycling reprocessor, the Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) at Tyseley or to landfill.

A normal refuse vehicle will hold about 8 tonnes of rubbish. One of the bulk vehicles will hold up to 25 tonnes, so vehicle movements are reduced by a ratio of 3:1 by this method. It also means that refuse collection vehicles do not have to travel across the city to deposit their rubbish, but rather they run into the nearest transfer station. A considerable portion of the rubbish brought to the ERF is transported at night to reduce traffic congestion and improve the efficiency of the operation.

The transfer stations also act as bulking stations for the recyclable materials that are collected either from the kerbside or from the Household Recycling Centres, reducing vehicle movements, easing congestion and reducing the environmental impact of transporting Birmingham’s
recyclable materials.