West London Waste Authority

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West London Waste Authority
Agency overview
Formed1 April 1986
Preceding agency
Jurisdiction London boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Richmond upon Thames
HeadquartersUnit 6, The Green, West Drayton, UB7 7PN
Agency executives
  • Councillor Graham Henson (Lab), Chair of Authority
  • Emma Beal, Managing Director [1]
Website www.westlondonwaste.gov.uk

The West London Waste Authority is the statutory body responsible for waste disposal in the London boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames. The authority was formed in 1986, taking over functions previously held by the Greater London Council, and is overseen by an elected councillor from each of the boroughs in which it operates.

Contents

History

The waste authority was established on 1 April 1986 as a joint arrangement under part II of the Local Government Act 1985. It replaced the Greater London Council in part of west London. The establishment of joint committees for this purpose was voluntary. The boroughs could have become individual waste disposal authorities. Each was already, and continued to be, responsible for waste collection.

Waste processing

The majority (96%) of residual waste (waste that cannot be recycled) produced in the area that the authority covers is sent by rail to be incinerated at Energy Recovery Facilities, providing energy for the National Grid. [2] Most of this is processed sent by rail to Suez's Severnside plant in South Gloucestershire, [3] the remainder is processed by Viridor at its shared Lakeside EfW facility near Heathrow Airport. The remaining waste is sent to landfill.

Suez Recycling and Recovery UK (formerly SITA UK) has provided the service to the authority since it signed a £760 million public-private partnership contract in November 2013 to last 25 years. [4]

Related Research Articles

Recycling Converting waste materials into new products

Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the properties it had in its original state. It is an alternative to "conventional" waste disposal that can save material and help lower greenhouse gas emissions. It can also prevent the waste of potentially useful materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reducing energy use, air pollution and water pollution.

Waste management Activities and actions required to manage waste from its source to its final disposal

Waste management includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitoring and regulation of the waste management process and waste-related laws, technologies, economic mechanisms.

Landfill Site for the disposal of waste materials

A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, refuse was simply left in piles or thrown into pits; in archeology this is known as a midden.

Viridor

Viridor Ltd is a recycling, renewable energy and waste management company in the United Kingdom, owned by KKR.

Municipal solid waste Type of waste consisting of everyday items discarded by the public

Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, as in a garbage disposal; the two are sometimes collected separately. In the European Union, the semantic definition is 'mixed municipal waste,' given waste code 20 03 01 in the European Waste Catalog. Although the waste may originate from a number of sources that has nothing to do with a municipality, the traditional role of municipalities in collecting and managing these kinds of waste have produced the particular etymology 'municipal.'

Greater London has a number of waste disposal authorities, responsible for waste collection and disposal. Prior to the abolition of the Greater London Council in 1986, it was the waste authority for Greater London.

Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority Former waste disposal authority for Greater Manchester

The Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority (GMWDA) was England’s largest Waste Disposal Authority, responsible for the management and disposal of municipal waste from Greater Manchester. It dealt with 1.1 million tonnes of waste produced each year, from approximately 1 million households and population of over 2.27 million in the metropolitan districts of Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Trafford — though part of Greater Manchester, the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan administers its own waste disposal operations, however they were represented on the authority for administration purposes. The waste came primarily from household waste collections and 20 Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) provided and serviced by the GMWDA. It handled around 4% of the nation's municipal waste.

A mechanical biological treatment (MBT) system is a type of waste processing facility that combines a sorting facility with a form of biological treatment such as composting or anaerobic digestion. MBT plants are designed to process mixed household waste as well as commercial and industrial wastes.

Construction waste

Construction waste or debris is any kind of debris from the construction process. Different government agencies have clear definitions. For example, the United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA defines construction and demolition materials as “debris generated during the construction, renovation and demolition of buildings, roads, and bridges.”

Isle of Man Incinerator

The Isle of Man Incinerator was designed by Savage & Chadwick Architects and has an unusual shape and design, the stack of which is designed to represent a Viking sail. SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK was awarded the contract to design build and operate the incinerator by the Isle of Man Government. The incinerator is located on an old disused landfill and has a capacity to treat 60,000 tonnes of municipal waste in addition to clinical and animal waste. In order to accomplish this the facility actually incorporates two separate incinerators. The facility uses moving grate technology.

Kirklees EfW

The Kirklees EfW is a major moving grate incineration plant in Huddersfield, Kirklees, England. The incinerator is owned and operated by Suez Recycling and Recovery UK who signed a 25-year contract with Kirklees Council in 1998 with an option to increase the time period to 2028. The plant is integral to the waste strategy and Unitary Development plan of Kirklees Council, treating 150,000 tonnes of locally generated municipal waste, which when incinerated, will produce enough electricity to power 15,000 homes. Only 136,000 tonnes of waste is actually incinerated, the other tonnages permitted are recovered materials such as metals and Incinerator bottom ash (IBA) and Fly ash.

SITA is the main brand representing Suez's waste subsidiaries in Europe, North America, the Asia Pacific zone and Australia.

Veolia Environmental Services

Veolia Environmental Services, formerly Onyx Environnement, is a division of Veolia Environnement. It employs nearly 78,000 staff, has operations in 35 countries around the world, and generated revenues of nearly €9.02 billion in 2009.

Recycling in the United Kingdom

In 2015, 43.5% of the United Kingdom's municipal waste was recycled, composted or broken down by anaerobic digestion. The majority of recycling undertaken in the United Kingdom is done by statutory authorities, although commercial and industrial waste is chiefly processed by private companies. Local Authorities are responsible for the collection of municipal waste and operate contracts which are usually kerbside collection schemes. The Household Waste Recycling Act 2003 required local authorities in England to provide every household with a separate collection of at least two types of recyclable materials by 2010. Recycling policy is devolved to the administrations of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales who set their own targets, but all statistics are reported to Eurostat.

Teesside EfW Power station in Billingham, UK

Teesside Energy from Waste plant is a municipal waste incinerator and waste-to-energy power station, which provides 29.2 megawatts (MW) of electricity for the National Grid by burning 390,000 tonnes of household and commercial waste a year. It is located on the River Tees at Haverton Hill, east of Billingham in North East England. Developed and built by NEM, a subsidiary of Northumbrian Water, the initial plant replaced the Portrack Incinerator and opened in 1998. Subsequently, the facility became part of SITA, now Suez.

Waste management law

Waste management laws govern the transport, treatment, storage, and disposal of all manner of waste, including municipal solid waste, hazardous waste, and nuclear waste, among many other types. Waste laws are generally designed to minimize or eliminate the uncontrolled dispersal of waste materials into the environment in a manner that may cause ecological or biological harm, and include laws designed to reduce the generation of waste and promote or mandate waste recycling. Regulatory efforts include identifying and categorizing waste types and mandating transport, treatment, storage, and disposal practices.

SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK Ltd, formerly SITA UK Limited, is a British waste management company, established in 1988. It was previously called Sitaclean Technology. It began as a provider of local authority services, with its first municipal services contract in Erewash, Derbyshire in 1989. Suez has expanded its business through a combination of new contracts, joint venture partnerships and acquisitions.

Cleanaway

Cleanaway Waste Management Limited is an Australian waste management company. Founded in 1979 by Brambles, it has extensive operations in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Resource recovery is using wastes as an input material to create valuable products as new outputs. The aim is to reduce the amount of waste generated, thereby reducing the need for landfill space, and optimising the values created from waste. Resource recovery delays the need to use raw materials in the manufacturing process. Materials found in municipal solid waste, construction and demolition waste, commercial waste and industrial wastes can be used to recover resources for the manufacturing of new materials and products. Plastic, paper, aluminium, glass and metal are examples of where value can be found in waste.

References

  1. "Beal takes over as MD of WLWA". Recycling & Waste World. 27 September 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  2. "London landfill waste to be burnt near Bristol". BBC News. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  3. "1.4bn Contract for SITA to Process London Waste at Severnside Waste to Energy Plant". Waste Management World. 30 November 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  4. "SITA UK signs £760 million contract with West London Waste Authority". SITA UK. 28 November 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2017.