Date published: 2025-05-08 | Category: Delivering for local residents, Focusing on prevention, Keynsham Area, Keynsham Recycling Hub, Waste and Recycling
Bath & North East Somerset Council’s state-of-the-art Keynsham Recycling Hub, which was completed in early 2024, has been shortlisted in the Construction Excellence South West Awards 2025.
The project is one of five that have been shortlisted in the category of Building Project of the Year Over £5m and the entries will be narrowed down to three following a public vote.
The £40m facility has consolidated the council’s operational facilities, waste and recycling collections, disposal and fleet management service, from three sites across the B&NES area. Keynsham Recycling Hub is a single highly efficient and future proofed operational hub that can process over 150,000 tonnes of waste for reuse, recycling and disposal. It is a central depot for more than 100 recycling and refuse collections vehicles and more than 200 operations and support staff are based in the modern offices and welfare facilities on site.
The hub also includes a public recycling centre, an MOT test centre and a reuse shop, which had more than 27,000 visitors in 2024/25. The reuse shop also stocks compost made from the garden waste brought to the recycling centre by residents.
Last year 160 children from local schools attended workshops about recycling, reuse and waste reduction at the recycling hub and in 2025/26 the programme will be expanded to cover 12 local schools, supported by funding from the site’s electrical waste contractor.
Designed in light of the climate and ecological emergencies declared by the council, the design is operationally efficient and the buildings out perform the required standards. A solar panel display on the roof of the buildings generates 780+ kWp of clean energy, some of which will be used to power a new electric vehicle fleet, with the excess sold back to the grid to generate revenue for the council.
The project created a Biodiversity Net Gain of more than 17%, with planting of 210 new native trees and 500m of hedgerow.
Councillor Tim Ball, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “I hope people across Bath and North East Somerset will vote for the Keynsham Recycling Hub. It is a fantastic, modern facility that has improved access to public recycling, increased the council’s overall capacity for recycling and expanded the type of materials that can be recycled, resulting in a reduction in the amount we send to landfill and promoting re-use. It was a substantial investment, but it will ensure that the service can meet current pressure and future demand from an increasing population in our area.”
The recycling hub was submitted to the awards by SRA Architects, the Bath-based company that acted as Lead Designer for the council.
Andy Battle, Director at SRA Architects said: “Being short-listed for the Constructing Excellence SW Project of Year Award is recognition that the council and the wider project team have collaborated to deliver an excellent public facility. This is not just about quality and sustainability in design and construction, but a project that enables Bath and North East Somerset residents to reuse and recycle more easily and efficiently, which in turn promotes sustainable living within the district.”
You can vote for the Keynsham Recycling Hub on the CESW website.
The award ceremony will be held at Aerospace Bristol on July 17. More information can be found on the CSE website and information on construction of the Keynsham Recycling Hub on the council’s website.
ENDS