Wednesday 7 November 2012

South London councils bid to end landfill

Four South London councils have signed a contract with a waste and recycling firm in a bid to end landfill.

The agreement between South London Waste Partnership and Viridor will ensure around 200,000 tonnes of residual waste generated by households in Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton will no longer be sent to landfill sites from 2017.

Viridor will process the waste through an Energy Recovery Facility (ERF), for which it has submitted a planning application. This is expected to provide carbon savings of 600,000 tonnes every year and generate enough electricity to power around 45,000 homes.

Councillor Derek Osbourne, Chair of the South London Waste Partnership's Joint Waste Committee said: "Several years ago our four boroughs agreed we couldn't keep burying waste in the ground. We've listened to local people and chosen a much more sustainable way of handling waste. This contract will bring huge environmental benefits to all of the boroughs in our partnership and deliver considerable savings to the taxpayer when they're needed most.

"The new contract will be cheaper than current landfill disposal from day one and over the 25-year lifetime of the contract it will save the four partner boroughs around £200 million. This money will help protect frontline services like schools, parks, libraries, social care and roads."