Thursday 22 August 2019

New energy recovery facility opened in Glasgow

A new facility that will divert more than 200,000 tonnes of waste from landfill every year in Glasgow has officially been opened.

The Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre (GRREC) at Polmadie will use the waste to generate enough electricity to power more than 26,000 homes annually.

The project, which has created 250 jobs and 18 new apprenticeships, has been delivered through a 25-year partnership between recycling and energy recovery company Viridor and Glasgow City Council.

The facility is capable of extracting recyclable material from general waste, diverting 90% of all council waste and helping save around 90,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year.

City Council Leader Susan Aitken said: “The GRREC will transform the way in which we manage waste in our city and will be crucial to helping us deliver against the ban on municipal waste going to landfill due to come into effect in 2021.

"Our commitment to the GRREC demonstrates how the council will work with Viridor and our partners in the coming years to ensure Glasgow can take further major steps towards becoming the most sustainable city in Europe.”

The government recently chose Glasgow as the host city for the major UN COP26 climate change summit next year if the UK’s bid is successful.