Fresh photos have revealed the progress made on the construction of Norwich's newest recycling centre, due to open later this year.
The new £2.75m centre is currently being built near Norwich Airport, close to where the Northern Distributor Road (NDR) meets the A140, and is expected to open in the autumn.
It will replace the current facility at Mile Cross, which is out of contract in September – Norfolk County Council said the city is "growing out of it" with more new housing expected in Norwich.
After work kicked off late last year to build an access road for the new centre, photos of the current progress show a 300-tonne crane on site, which is being used to install parts of the facility's comprehensive water management system.
It is putting sections of a 500,000 litre tank in place, which keeps any surface water runoff on site.
Andy Grant, cabinet member for environment and waste, said: "It’s great to see this work progressing so well, despite the extra pressures brought by the coronavirus pandemic and the recent severe cold snap. All the team are doing a fantastic job.
"I’m proud that the design of both sites has been shaped by local people who told us that they wanted easy access bins, smooth traffic flow through the site, a reuse shop, and plenty of car, bike and trailer parking so this is what we’ve done."
To add to the new facility by the airport, work on a second recycling centre in the south of the city is set to begin in the next couple of months after planning permission was granted last October.
The southern centre will be built on an underused part of the Harford park and ride site, and is set to cost a further £1.9m and will replace the current facility at Ketteringham.
It takes the total cost of the two new recycling centres in Norwich to £4.65m. Meanwhile, another new site in Wymondham has been proposed, and the facilities in Sheringham and Morningthorpe are also set to expand.
Mr Grant added: "Together the two brand new Norwich north and Norwich south recycling centres represent a £4.65m investment in making sure that we are providing a service fit for the future and that can meet the needs of a growing population."
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