Josh Mellor, Local Democracy Reporter, goes on a tour of the construction site at Edmonton Eco Park

*Technical director Doug Kay and project manager Neil Murray (credit LDRS)*

The £1.2billion project to build new waste facilities at Edmonton Eco Park is making steady progress.

While work on the highly-controversial new incinerator at Edmonton Eco Park has yet to begin, construction is underway to build other new facilities at the site to process waste before it is either burned or recycled.

Waste from all seven boroughs that form North London Waste Authority (NLWA) is dealt with at the site.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service was recently invited on an exclusive tour of the “60-70% completed” southern part of the waste processing site in Advent Way.

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 to the north is completed.

Taking shape to the south is a vast building – known as a recycling and fuel preparation facility (RFPF) – where each year at least 300,000 of tonnes of waste will be sorted and dispatched for recycling or incineration.

*Inside the RFPF are large concrete bays and a ventilation system on the roof that will filter air before it is released (credit LDRS)*

Technical director Doug Kay, described as the “brains” of the site, explained what is being built. He 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, the Environment Agency brought in a load of new regulations, so this stipulates to those regulations.”

Inside the RFPF are large bays separated by tall concrete walls, where the waste will be dropped from outside to be sorted on an industrial scale.

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, which will generate electricity.

Doug said workers were installing a network of large tubes on the ceiling which will filter dust and bad smells from the air before it is released through two chimney stacks.

In one corner, water treatment machinery is being assembled that will take “horrible” pollutants from water draining out of the building before it is released.

Other new additions to Edmonton Eco Park will include a publicly-accessible household reuse and recycling centre, a district heating energy centre, a solar-powered and ground-heated visitor centre and a replacement base for Edmonton Sea Cadets beside the River Lea.

Heated water will be sent through the district heating network to up to 23,000 homes in Enfield, Haringey and potentially also Hackney.

Although on the same site and powered by “waste” heat from the incinerator, the district heating centre is a separate project being built by Enfield Council as part of its Energetik project.

Towering over the new RFPF, the current incinerator burns about 540,000 tonnes of waste a year and produces 40 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power 72,000 homes.

The NLWA is building an off-grid centre for use by visitors on the first floor and Edmonton Sea Cadets on the ground floor (credit LDRS) — *NLWA is building an off-grid centre for use by visitors on the first floor and Edmonton Sea Cadets on the ground floor (credit LDRS)*

However, the “cleaner and safer” new incinerator is designed to meet the NLWA’s predicted waste demand by burning up to 700,000 tonnes of waste a year, producing almost double the amount of electricity.

Although incinerating waste instead of recycling it remains controversial, the NLWA estimates it has “diverted” more than 21 million tonnes which would have otherwise gone to landfill.

NLWA planning documents show the large space occupied by the current incinerator is being reserved for “future waste treatment facilities”.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said it approved the incinerator in 2017 and takes a “robust approach” to permitting each plant after consulting the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in each case.

They added: ““We will not issue an environmental permit if the proposed plant will have a significant impact on the environment or harm human health.

“UKHSA’s position relating to incineration is that modern, well-run, and regulated municipal waste incinerators are not a significant risk to public health.”

The spokesperson also confirmed it is yet to approve a final permit for contaminated water to be released after treatment on site.

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