Mucking Marshes landfill was a major landfill site servicing London, close to the hamlet of Mucking, in Thurrock, Essex. Covering hundreds of acres of former gravel quarry, it was one of the largest landfills in Western Europe and had been filled for decades with municipal and commercial waste floated thirty miles down the River Thames in barges to Mucking Wharf.[ citation needed ] The barges, each carrying dozens of distinctive yellow containers, were a familiar, though rarely commented-upon, sight along the Thames through Central London. Once the barges had travelled 30 miles (48 km) downstream from Walbrook Wharf (or further upstream at Wandsworth), mechanical cranes at Mucking Wharf unloaded the containers onto trucks. The trucks made their way up the artificial mound created by decades of garbage compaction that still towers over the surrounding flat landscape. Flocks of seagulls and other scavenging estuarine birds were a familiar sight as the trucks disgorged their contents.
The former landfill site itself, although it dominates the village of Mucking, is guarded and surrounded by a perimeter fence more than four miles (6 km) long. Cory Environmental, the operators of the site, gated off Mucking Wharf Road so that views of the Thames meeting the North Sea could only be accessed via a circuitous footpath through the neighbouring village of East Tilbury.[ citation needed ]
Changes in London governance, including the creation of the Greater London Authority under Ken Livingstone, led to indications of a reassessment of London's waste strategy based more on recycling and less on landfill sites like Mucking Marshes. However, in 2007, Mucking Marshes Landfill was granted an extension to receive London's waste until 2010. [1]
In 2012, the site was reclaimed for community and environmental use in a project involving The Cory Environmental Trust, DP World port, and the Essex Wildlife Trust working together to create the Thurrock Thameside Nature Park. This is a 120-acre (49 ha) wildlife site open to the public, expanding to 845 acres (342 ha) over the next few years, to help establish and protect wildlife and bird populations and environments. [2] The site also houses the recently completed Cory Environmental Trust Visitor Centre, a drum-shaped, timber-clad building designed by van Heyningen and Haward Architects. [3] The reserve and the new building were opened on 11 May 2013 by Sir David Attenborough, who described the building as 'revolutionary'. [4]
The decomposition of organic matter within the landfill generates a gas containing up to about 50 per cent methane. This landfill gas is collected by a network of pipes and used in on-site power stations. Mucking Gas 2 Landfill Scheme has an output 3.8 MW and Mucking Gas 3 Scheme has an output 3.9 MW. [5] [6] Electricity is fed into the National Grid. It is envisaged that landfill gas will continue to be produced for about 30 years. [7]
Thurrock is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames immediately east of London and has over 18 miles (29 km) of riverfront including the Port of Tilbury, the principal port for London. Thurrock is within the London commuter belt and is an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The borough includes the northern ends of the Dartford Crossing.
Grays is the largest town in the borough and unitary authority area of Thurrock, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. The town, which is both a former civil parish and one of Thurrock's traditional Church of England parishes, is located on the north bank of the River Thames.
The Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT) is one of 46 wildlife trusts which cover the United Kingdom. The EWT was founded in 1959, and it describes itself as Essex's leading conservation charity, which aims to protect wildlife for the future and the people of the county. As of January 2017, it has over 34,000 members and runs 87 nature reserves, 2 nature parks and 11 visitor centres.
Two Tree Island is a small island lying north-east of Canvey Island and south-west of Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, England. It covers 257 hectares and is connected to the mainland at Leigh by a single span bridge.
Stanford-le-Hope is a town, former civil parish and Church of England parish in the unitary authority area of Thurrock, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. Often known locally simply as Stanford, the town is located 24 miles (38.4 km) east of Charing Cross in London. In 2011 it had a population of 28,765.
Rainham Marshes is an RSPB nature reserve in the east of London, adjacent to the Thames Estuary in Purfleet, Thurrock and the London Borough of Havering.
The utility infrastructure of London, England comprises a range of services and facilities that support and enable the functioning of London as a world city. Infrastructure includes facilities associated with products and materials that are consumed such as electricity, gas, water, heating and liquid fuels; materials that are produced such as sewage and solid waste; and facilities that enable communication and connectivity – telecommunications.
Cory is a recycling and waste management company based in London. Originally founded as William Cory & Son in 1896, the company has operated vessels on the River Thames for more than 125 years, transporting a range of commodities and materials including coal, oil, aggregates and waste. Ships from Cory's fleet supported Britain's war efforts in both world wars, with 30 ships being lost during the conflicts. From the 1980s onwards, the business has become increasingly focused on waste management.
Mucking is a hamlet and former Church of England parish and civil parish adjoining the Thames Estuary in the Thurrock unitary authority area, in southern Essex, England. It is located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the town of Stanford-le-Hope. In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 498.
The Wildspace Conservation Park, also known as London Riverside Conservation Park or Wildspace, is a major new conservation park under development. The conservation park is predominantly in London, within the London Borough of Havering, but also extends across the capital's administrative boundary and into Thurrock in Essex. It covers much of the land adjacent to the River Thames near to Rainham and Wennington. The RSPB nature reserve is the largest part of the park to be open to the public. Later phases include the reuse of a large landfill site as parkland.
West Thurrock Power Station was a coal-fired power station on the River Thames at Stone Ness, West Thurrock in Essex. The station was at the northern end of the 400 kV Thames Crossing of the National Grid.
The Tilbury power stations were two thermal power stations on the north bank of the River Thames at Tilbury in Essex. The 360 MW dual coal- and oil-fired Tilbury A Power Station operated from 1956 until 1981 when it was mothballed, prior to demolition in 1999. The 1,428 MW Tilbury B Power Station operated between 1968 and 2013 and was fueled by coal, as well as co-firing with oil and, from 2011, biomass. Tilbury B was demolished in 2016–19. Since 2013 three other power stations have been proposed or constructed in Tilbury.
Milton Creek Country Park is situated in 128 acres between Milton Regis and Kemsley, on the west bank of Milton Creek in Sittingbourne, Kent, England. This site was once called Church Marshes Country Park.
van Heyningen and Haward is an architectural practice, founded in 1983 by Birkin Haward and Joanna van Heyningen, and now owned and managed by James McCosh and Meryl Townley. The London architects work primarily in education, and have also worked in the heritage, community and health sectors.
Thurrock Thameside Nature Park is an Essex Wildlife Trust nature reserve located on top of the former Mucking Marshes Landfill in Thurrock, England which will eventually cover 845 acres (342 ha). It is next to the River Thames and provides good bird and ship watching. The Cory Environmental Trust Visitor Centre is located at the preserve and provides a rooftop viewing platform.
Crossness Nature Reserve is a 25.5 hectare local nature reserve in Crossness in the London Borough of Bexley. It is part of the Erith Marshes Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. The site is adjacent to Crossness Sewage Treatment Works; the works form the reserve's western boundary. It was created under a planning condition in 1994 and is owned and managed by Thames Water. At the northern edge of the reserve is a waste management facility owned and operated by Cory.
Linford Wood is a 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) Local Nature Reserve in East Tilbury in Essex. It is owned and managed by Thurrock Council.
51°29′N0°26′E / 51.49°N 0.43°E