The £1.2bn project to rebuild north London’s waste facility in Enfield is steaming ahead.
While work on the incinerator at Edmonton EcoPark has yet to begin, construction is under way to build new facilities to process waste before it is either burned or recycled.
Waste from in Camden, Haringey, Barnet, Hackney, Islington, Enfield and Waltham Forest – which form the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) – is dealt with at the site.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service took a tour of the "60 to 70 per cent completed" southern part of the site where waste will be processed.
In the centre of the site is London’s oldest "energy from waste" incinerator, built in 1971, which will be demolished once a new facility in the north is completed.
Taking shape in the south is the recycling and fuel preparation facility (RFPF), where each year at least 135,000 of tonnes of waste will be sorted for recycling or incineration.
Technical director Doug Kay said: “This project isn’t the highest profile in London but it’s actually really interesting, with high levels of innovation. This is probably one of the first [facilities] like this.”
Wood, metal, plastics and construction waste will be sorted for recycling; food and garden waste will be sent for composting; and non-recyclable waste will be prepared as fuel for the new incinerator.
New additions to the site include a publicly accessible household reuse and recycling centre, and a visitors' centre.
Although on the same site and powered by the incinerator, a "district heating centre" is a separate project being built by Enfield Council.
Heated water will be sent through the network to up to 23,000 homes in Enfield, Haringey and Hackney.
The current incinerator burns about 540,000 tonnes of waste a year, producing 40 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 72,000 homes.
The new incinerator is designed to burn up to 700,000 tonnes of waste a year, producing almost double the electricity.
Although incineration remains controversial, the NLWA estimates it has “diverted” more than 21 million tonnes from landfill.
NLWA planning documents show the large space occupied by the current incinerator is reserved for “future waste treatment facilities”.
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