Veolia Environmental Services has laid on extra staff and vehicles in order to cater for the predicted 140 tonnes set to be left along the procession route for the Royal Wedding.
The waste management company, which is waste contractor for Westminster city council, has undertaken street sweeping and a deep pre-clean operation ahead of Fridays (April 29) celebrations in the capital.
In order to cater for waste left by spectators and well-wishers, the French-owned firm has seconded an army of 130 staff, 30 vehicles and two gritting units to undertake what Veolia is dubbing a mammoth operation.
And, Veolia has also added two water tankers and two flushing vehicles to its Royal Wedding team in order to clean up the thousands of flags, champagne bottles and paper plates that are likely to be discarded along the procession route.
In the hours following the Royal nuptials, Veolia intends to swoop on the procession route and sort through the residual waste in order to recover any recyclable material left along the mile-and-a-half route.
Pascal Hauret, Veolias London municipal operations director, said: We regularly deal with cleaning up after large-scale events in Westminster, from the Notting Hill Carnival to the London Marathon. But we are particularly thrilled to be part of this once in a generation event.
Our team will be working hard to make sure that come Saturday, you wont be able to tell that anything has even happened apart from a historic moment and a memorable day.
Westminster
Councillor Ed Agar, cabinet member for city management at Westminster city council, said: We are extremely proud of our city and to host the Royal Wedding. Westminster plays host to many big events every year, but this one is special, and we are determined to make sure the city is looking its best for everyone, and to leave it clean for our residents after the crowds have gone home.
Cllr Agar added that it was important for the local authority to put in that extra effort to ensure that area was clean both before and after the ceremony due to the many extra visitors expected to visit the capital and line the procession route on Friday.
Veolia carries out waste and recycling collections, as well as street cleansing, on behalf of Westminster city council under a 518 million, seven-year deal signed in early 2010 (see letsrecycle.com story).
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