02 November 2011
City of London achieves zero to landfill status
The City of London Corporation is pleased to announce that from
October, 100% of non-recycling and composting (residual) waste
collected from its residents and street cleansing operations will
be processed at a modern ‘energy-from-waste’ facility, rather than
going direct to landfill.
As part of its waste strategy - published in 2008 - the City of
London Corporation made a commitment to reduce the amount of waste
being sent to landfill by encouraging residents to reduce waste,
increase participation in recycling and food composting services
and to deliver the remaining waste to an ‘energy-from-waste’
plant.
The facility – operated by Cory Environmental’s subsidiary,
Riverside Resource Recovery Limited in Belvedere - has an average
annual capacity of 585,000. The plant is one of the most efficient
facilities in Europe - and generates a net of about 66MW of
electricity, feeding into the National Grid with enough electricity
to serve around 100,000 homes.
The bottom ash residues from the facility are also transported
by barge to a facility further along the Thames where the metals
are recovered and the remaining residues recycled into road
building and construction aggregates.
The City of London Corporation also made a pledge in its 2008
waste strategy to minimise the environmental impact that
waste-transport has on the environment. This is being achieved by
transporting residual waste to the energy-from-waste facility by
barge – a system which is also managed by Cory Environmental Ltd.
The transfer of waste by barge saves some 12,000 lorry movements
per year which both reduces the carbon footprint of the operation
and helps reduce traffic congestion.
John Tomlinson, Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s
Port Health and Environmental Services Committee, said: “I am
delighted that we are no longer sending our waste direct to
landfill. Our waste strategy is designed to deliver services
with maximum environmental efficiency and we will continue to
incorporate these important considerations in future
programmes.”
Ends
Notes to editors
- Press enquiries
John Park, Press Officer,
City of London Corporation
Tel 020 7332 3639 / Mobile 07824 343 456
Email
john.park@cityoflondon.gov.uk
- About the City of London Corporation
The City of London Corporation is a uniquely diverse organisation.
It supports and promotes the City as the world leader in
international finance and business services and provides local
services and policing for those working in, living in and visiting
the Square Mile. It also provides valued services to London and the
nation. These include the Barbican Centre and the Guildhall School
of Music & Drama; the Guildhall Library and Art Gallery and
London Metropolitan Archive; a range of education provision
(including three City Academies); five Thames bridges (including
Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge); the Central Criminal Court
at Old Bailey; over 10,000 acres of open spaces (including
Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest), and three wholesale food
markets. It is also London’s Port Health Authority and runs the
Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow. It works in partnership with
neighbouring boroughs on the regeneration of surrounding areas and
the City Bridge Trust, which it oversees, donates more than £15m to
charity annually.