Hertfordshire will need a number of waste and recycling ‘super sites’ to keep up with demand by 2031, it has been reported.

Currently there are 17 household waste and recycling centres in the county, where residents can take unwanted household items for disposal, recycling or re-use.

But a newly updated waste 'spatial strategy' document shows that within 13 years most of the existing sites will be unsuitable because additional capacity will be needed to match population growth and to meet new national recycling requirements.

The strategy outlines the need for new waste and recycling super sites, with locations already identified as "potentially deliverable" in Ware, Stevenage and Turnford - with a fourth proposed to serve the Baldock and Letchworth areas.

Work on Ware's multi-million pound super site is already under way, with the new facility due to open next spring.

"The development of super sites will result in a more modern and operationally effective HWRC service," says the report.

"Larger sites will increase capacity and decrease the turnaround time of each visit by reducing queuing at the centres."

But the report also identifies a need to find three additional super sites - each ideally one hectare in size or larger - close to Bishop's Stortford, around Welwyn Hatfield and in the east Hemel Hempstead area.

According to the report, seven of the 17 existing centres will be deemed unsuitable within five years, and by 2031 - with growing pressure on the network - that number is expected to rise to 11.

Just four existing sites have been identified as suitable for 2031 and beyond - in Harpenden, Rickmansworth, Royston and Waterdale.

A further two centres - described as "not ideal" - in Berkhamsted and Potters Bar are also expected to remain open in the longer term.

In Stevenage, work is ongoing to look at expanding the existing site or moving it north of the town centre, making it more accessible to Hitchin residents too.

Officers are also looking for a new location close to the A10 corridor to replace the current Turnford site, and are looking at developing another site in Baldock.

Capital funding of £7million has been allocated to the super site at Ware and £3.2million to the expansion of the existing site at Stevenage.