About this service
We are responsible for the management and disposal of municipal waste from Greater Manchester (formerly known as Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority). We handle around 4% of the UKs municipal waste. This is approximately 1.1 million tonnes of waste and recycling each year from over a million households from the metropolitan districts of Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford (Wigan operates as a unitary authority and administers its own disposal arrangements).
GMCA receives funding from a levy on the nine Greater Manchester local authorities. The levy funds the operation of a network of waste and recycling management facilities in Greater Manchester:
- 20 Household Waste and Recycling Centres
- Eight Transfer Loading Stations
- Five Mechanical Treatment and Reception Facilities
- A Materials Recovery Facility
- A Energy Recovery Facility
We also manage two Education Centres, a Solar Farm and four closed landfill sites.
The recycling rate for waste from households in Greater Manchester in 2017/18 was 47%.
Our aims
- 55% household recycling by 2025
- 60% recycling across the 20 Household Waste Recycling Centres by 2021
- At least 90% diversion from landfill by 2021