ActForEaling was invited on a tour of Transport Avenue waste transfer station in Brentford to find out what happens to Ealing’s rubbish. Transport Avenue processes black bin waste and food waste collected around West London. This trip was thanks to Ealing Council’s recycling and rubbish collections team. Follow them for recycling and waste tips on Facebook Ealing Council recycling or Instagram for how to recycle better and more.
Mary Horesh, founder of Ealing Repair cafe went on the trip. The group visited the Waste transfer site in Transport Avenue Brentford. Mary has always been fascinated with where our rubbish goes and how we can do better. The trip showed a lot of hard and dirty work goes into making our waste from our wheelie bins go to the right place. In West London very little goes to landfill. We can all help by putting the right things in the right wheelie bins.
Did you know?
Since December 2016, 96% of the non-recycled waste put out by residents in the West London Boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond-upon-Thames is being used to generate energy at Severnside plant on the banks of the River Severn estuary. The majority of Ealing’s rubbish from the black wheelie bins ends up there.
Black bin waste
Transfer Avenue has black bin waste dropped off by refuse lorries. This is compacted into metal units, loaded onto a train and sent on a train to Severnside incinerator. This site is on the banks of the river seven in Bristol.
These photos of the waste don’t give a proper impression as it’s missing the smell and the steam coming off these piles. Sadly in this rubbish that goes into the black wheelie bins there is a lot of food waste still ends up in the black bins. This is despite the majority of residents in West London having access food waste collections. In Ealing if you live in flats there is limited collections. There are plans to roll out more food waste collections to flats and there are trials around Ealing borough.
The majority of Ealing’s rubbish from black wheelie bins is transported by train to the Severnside Energy Recovery Centre (SERC). The 400,000 tonnes per year capacity plant produces 34 megawatts, or enough electricity to power the equivalent of 50,000 homes. More on Where our Waste goes at West London Waste Authority.
Electrical fires
One big problem that small electricals and batteries cause fires that end up in this waste. Zombie batteries as they have been nicknamed, lurk in small electronic items that are discarded in black bins, leach their chemicals and cause fires 🔥in both bin lorries and depots every year. So anything that contains batteries is a lethal mix in rubbish. Things like vapes, lights, battery operated toys all contain batteries.
So please recycle your batteries at your local supermarkets and shops that have collections. Drop small electricals at collection points around Ealing or Greenford and Abbey road recycling and waste sites.
Another strange fact we learnt was that nappies end up regularly on recycling bins, which of course are not recyclable. So pleased think of the people that handle your waste and remember to put the right things in the right bin.
So next time you are filling your bin think about the people who have to handle and process it. Help them by reducing your waste and recycling more responsibly.
Food Waste
The food waste from doorstep collections is also processed at Transport Avenue. It’s taken from this site in lorries to a biodigester run by BioCollectors at their plant in south London. These lorries are run off the gas produced at the biodigester.
At the biodigester the food waste is put in an airtight container for anaerobic digestion (similar to composting). It produces gas (used as fuel to power the vehicles) and fertilizer liquid and slurry that is put on land.
For food waste the best thing we can do is leave it loose. If you want to bag it use biodegradable sacks, but definitely no plastic bags.
What happens to our waste
Find out more on what happens to our blue bin recycling, from the ActforEaling trip to Crayford MRF (Materials Reprocessing Facility) at Trace the Trash: ActForEaling Reveals the Journey of Our Recycling!
A detailed description of our waste and recycling in West London is explained in What happens to our waste and where does it go.
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