A 24-hour recycling operation will be “incredibly silent” thanks to multimillion pound upgrades.

The recycling facility on Station Road in Blackrod announced at the end of last month that it intended to extend its working times to 24-hours a day.

Now Cllr David Grant, who represents Horwich South and Blackrod, says he has been reassured about the plans after a visit to the J Dickinson and Sons Limited site.

He said: “It’s quite a distance from any residential properties and it's only going to apply to one unit, Unit 8.

“They’ve spent around £4million on electrifying it.

“It used to run on diesel but now it's much quieter.”

The Bolton News: The plans will be considered at Bolton Town HallThe plans will be considered at Bolton Town Hall (Image: Newsquest)

He added: “It's incredibly silent now, I was quite concerned when I first saw this come up on planning but having been down there for a visit and seeing how it all works it looks like the residents won’t notice anything different.”

If approved, the plans will see the facility allowed to run 24-hour operations from Monday to Friday and between midnight and 7pm on Saturdays with only maintenance and cleaning carried out on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

There will not be any changes to access times for vehicles.

The company has said that 24-hour operations are needed because of growing demands for recycling and recovery.

A statement said: “The proposals will provide increased waste processing time which will result in increased recycling and recovery of waste in accordance with the waste hierarchy.

The extension of operating hours would help increase local and national recycling rates by allowing increased throughput of material.”

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It added: “Increased processing will reduce environmental risks associated with large stockpiles of waste.

“The site operates under an environmental permit which restricts the amount of waste that can be stored on site and limits stockpile sizes to reduce fire risk.

"The permit also requires a fast turnaround of material to prevent build-up of odours and attraction to pests, so the extended operating hours will also help JDS comply with permit requirements whilst continuing to follow the waste hierarchy.”

The plans were put before Bolton Council on Friday September 29 with the authority aiming to make a decision by Friday November 24.