A new waste transfer station is being built at Bardon Business Park to help manage household waste and reduce the amount of rubbish sent to landfill.

Planning permission was granted last year for the facility which will enable Leicestershire County Council to increase the efficiency of its waste and recycling procedures.

The new waste transfer station is being built on land at Interlink Way South, Bardon by Willmott Dixon.

The development will include a warehouse style building and associated weighbridges, outside bays, office space and parking.

With the county's two current waste transfer stations at Whetstone and Loughborough operating at capacity, the council says the new site is much needed.

Councillor Blake Pain said: "We are committed to doing our utmost to ensure that Leicestershire deals with its waste in the most environmentally-friendly and efficient way possible, so I am delighted to see work begin on the new Bardon site, as it will give us both increased capacity and flexibility.

"This will be our biggest waste transfer site to date, although by no means the largest building on the Bardon Business Park, which makes it an ideal location for the facility."

The site will have solar panels and an energy efficient office building including sensor lighting and water saving taps and toilets.

This is in line with the council's pledge of reducing energy consumption throughout its buildings alongside reducing the amount of carbon produced through its operations. There will also be electric vehicle charging points at the premises.

Leicestershire County Council says it is a waste disposal authority, and so deals with all the waste collected at the kerbside by local district councils, along with that collected at its recycling and household waste sites.

The authority is always looking to reduce the amount of waste it sends to landfill and aims to increase the amount of waste dealt with at treatment facilities as this is better for the environment.

To do this efficiently, waste is usually first delivered to a waste transfer station where it is bulked together and then transferred into larger vehicles which travel to the treatment facility.

The building and operations will comply with strict rules and regulations to ensure the facility has minimal impact on the business park and the surrounding area and waste will only remain on site for a short period of time, usually less than 24 hours, before being taken to a treatment or disposal facility.

Planning permission for the scheme was granted in November last year and it is hoped that the new site will open in 2022.