Greenstar UK acquire site for London “super-MRF”

The site – which is adjacent to London Waste's Edmonton incinerator – has been licensed to cater for 250,000 tonnes of recyclable material produced in north London every year and is a major part of the company's drive to improve the UK's materials recycling facilities (MRF) infrastructure.

Greenstar expects the development in the Atlas warehouse building, which was built on a nine acre site, will be able to cater for 9% of waste arisings in north London and the £18 million deal represents the company's largest strategic investment to date in developing its UK-wide MRF infrastructure.

Ian Wakelin, chief executive of Greenstar UK, said: “Greenstar's investment in north London comes at a critical time. It is really significant for the capital as there is a serious shortage of local MRF capacity.

“Our new facility is right in the heartland served by the North London Waste Authority which acts on behalf of seven London local authorities, and will go a long way to providing the recyclable processing and waste bulking requirements of the area,” he added.

MRF

Greenstar's bid to improve the UK's MRF infrastructure saw it purchase Leicester Paper Processors and its 45,000 tonne-a-year MRF in June, as it looked to strengthen the ‘feeder spine' of smaller MRFs that would link into a network of so-called ‘super-MRFs' near major urban centres, which includes the planed north London facility and its 300,000 tonne-a-year capacity site that is being developed at Aldridge, Birmingham (see letsrecycle.com story).

The Greenstar Atlas facility will be capable of processing both domestic and commercial dry recyclables such as paper, cardboard, plastic, metal and glass containers, textiles and other materials, and features the capacity to deal with commingled or source-separated collections, despite Greenstar's championing of commingled collections (see letsrecycle.com story).

Mr Wakelin said: “We are also establishing a commingled collection service for north London's businesses. We want to make it as easy as possible for people and businesses to recycle more and recycle better.”

Greenstar will also aim to make use of the good transport links to the site, which is situated near to both the North Circular and the M25, by providing a waste transfer station capable of handling a further 250,000 tonnes, and also using it as a depot for up to 60 recycling vehicles

The MRF is been touted as being one of the biggest located in London, with the largest capacity site being recognised as Bywaters' £7 million plant in, East London, which currently processes 250,000 tonnes of waste a year but holds a license for double that (see letsrecycle.com story).