Plans for a construction and recycling yard on the old Lafarge compound at Eastern Quarry have been submitted to planners.

It is expected to handle around 40,000 tonnes of waste a year, helped by the nearby first stage of work on the long-awaited 6,000-home development.

The Eastern Quarry, which forms a large part of Land Securities’ Ebbsfleet Valley project, received outline planning permission in November 2007.

Permission for the first 150 houses got the go-ahead from Dartford council back in August.

It will be run by OCL Regeneration, a specialist recycler which uses recycled alternatives to asphalts and concrete.

A spokesman said: “The proposed construction and recycling yard will provide cost effective and high quality products and services onsite for use within the Eastern Quarry development.

"In an effort to maximise the use of recycled materials while minimising the carbon footprint of the scheme, it is preferential to have a presence onsite using site-derived materials and thus reducing the requirement to transport waste off, and recycled products back, on the site.”

Processing will take place Monday to Friday from 6am to 6pm.

There will be about 2,700 lorry movements a year which equates to about 10 lorries on the road a day, in and out of the facility.

The master plan for Eastern Quarry includes more than 6,000 homes and 231,000 sq metres of floorspace for shops, schools, libraries, health centres, places of worship, sports and leisure centres.

Four villages will be created: Western Cross, Alkerden, Washmills and Castle Hill - where the first homes will be built, in the north east corner.

Of those, 81 will be three-bedroom homes and 69 will have four bedrooms and it will be built around a neighbourhood green.

Access will be via Main Street North, a new road running along the northern border of the site, and roads to the south and west will give access to the rest of the village once built.

The recycled materials will also be used on roads across Gravesham and Dartford and will create about 10 jobs.