The South London Waste Partnership (SLWP) recorded a 0.9 percentage point fall in its recycling rate in the first six months of the 2019/20 financial year, despite recycling tonnages rising by 3.7%.
The partnership manages waste from Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton
This was because of a 5.8% increase in overall waste arisings during the six months, when compared with the same period in 2019.
The partnership – which manages waste for the London boroughs of Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton – recorded a 39.6% recycling rate for April-September 2020, compared with 40.5% last year.
The figure includes all waste streams the partnership handles, so is lower than the 46% recycling rate the partnership recorded for household waste in 2018/19.
Data
As outlined below, a total of 71,076 tonnes were collected for recycling by the partnership in the first six months of the 2020/21 financial year, up from 68,557 tonnes last year; this includes dry recycling, green waste and food waste.
However, total waste arisings jumped from 169,440 to 179,297, which led to the lower recycling rate.
Overall waste arisings jumped by 10,000 tonnes in 2020/21 when compared to last year
Transfer stations
The report gives an overview of how four contracts procured and managed by the partnership. The first is the waste transfer station bulking and haulage contract operated by Viridor, and includes waste transfer station operations and bulk haulage services only. “The contract is operating effectively and there are no issues to report,” the report said.
HWRCs
The second contract is for the management of HWRCs, which is held by Veolia.
Detailed analysis undertaken by the SLWP each month looks at materials recycled, recycling markets, and the impact of the wider SLWP recycling services, in order to “better understand HWRC recycling rates and assess the contractor’s performance”.
Veolia collects household waste and recycling for the SLWP and also manages its HWRCs
At the end of quarter two, the recycling rate at the SLWP sites was 65%, a a 2% drop against quarter two last year.
This was brought on by a drop in wood and green waste volumes, which usually account for about one third of the recycling rates at the partnership’s HWRCs.
“At the end of quarter 2 this year we received 47% less green waste than we would normally expect,” the report said.
The levels of wood also saw a 39% reduction as a result of closures brought on by the pandemic.
However, a slight rise in metals and a 41% drop in tonnages in this time limited the decrease.
EfW
The SLWP also reported a 7% increase in waste sent to energy from waste (EfW) compared to the same period last year. The partnership delivered just over 108,000 tonnes of residual waste to the Beddington EfW facility, run by Viridor, which has been operational since 2019.
Permit variation
The report added that Viridor has submitted an application to the Environment Agency to vary the permit for the Beddington facility, to increase the annual amount of waste the facility is allowed to process by 15%, up to 347,422 tonnes per annum.
Viridor has been advised to seek a permit variation for Beddington
This was because the permitted tonnage takes into account planned downtime at the plant, which was pushed back in 2020.
Viridor said it is expecting to exceed its permit for the volume of waste that can be treated at the facility per year.
The EA confirmed that this is a “pattern” it is seeing at similar facilities across the country and advised Viridor to submit a formal permit variation to increase the facility’s capacity.
This was submitted by Viridor which said it is “expecting notification of the Agency’s decision in the coming weeks”.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
