South Tyne and Wear Waste Management Partnership

Over recent years, the way we've been able to dispose your household waste has changed. 

Landfilling waste was a waste of money, wastes valuable resources, and above all has a damaging effect on our environment.   

In 2007, South Tyne and Wear Waste Management Partnership agreed a twenty-year Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JMWMS).

The strategy covers how we will manage your rubbish between 2007 to 2027. 

By working together, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland councils looked to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill sites every year and increase recycling. 

All households can now recycle a wider range of materials from home including: 

• plastic bottles  
• paper  
• cardboard 
• glass bottles and jars 
• metal tins and cans 

We're also looking at ways to improve our household waste and recycling centre service.

Since 2014, the partnership has sent non-recycled rubbish to our Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facility in Teesside. The facility converts the waste into electricity for the National Grid. 

Due to what has been achieved over recent years, the JMWMS has been updated. The updated strategy has been designed to:  

• Be easy to understand, follow, and allow the everyone to check progress.
• Consider how the current economy and other restrictions will affect our partner Council's waste services.
• Be clear about the priorities and not get the other Councils to commit to deliver actions with unknown external outcomes and / or influences.
• Think about proportions and be realistic about issues that the partnership can directly influence at different levels. For example nationally, within our own operational activities, and across other services within our own Councils.

View the Joint waste management strategy.