City council has sent no waste to landfill for the last three months as it speeds up its recycling programme.
Milton Keynes Council is continuing the city’s long history of environmentally friendly initiatives after reporting that no household waste has been sent to landfill for the last three months.
Its Waste Recovery Park gasification plant, which was opened in 2017, has been processing 133,000 tonnes of black bin and sack waste every year, creating enough power for 11,000 homes – nearly 10% of MK houses. The council also uses some of the power to run its state-of-the-art fleet of electric waste trucks.
Gasification is greener and more efficient than incinerators that burn waste. Instead, rubbish that can’t be recycled is boiled at high temperatures to create ‘syngas’ which creates no greenhouse gases or nitrogen oxides.
The Recovery Park also extracts metals and plastics for recycling and creates helpful compost through anaerobic digestion.
The plant has been so successful that it has been diverting 99% of waste away from landfill. But in the last quarter, MKCC have reported that no waste had been sent to landfill at all.
MK’s green credentials are impressive. In 1992, it became the first place in the UK to collect recycling from the kerbside. Last year, the city council rolled out red and blue recycling bins in a nod to its historic red and blue box system.
About 65% of waste is currently recycled in the city, which compares favourably with the English average of around 44%.
“Yet again, Milton Keynes is leading the way for greener and cleaner initiatives,” said Councillor Jenny Wilson-Marklew, Cabinet Member for Waste and Recycling. “We believe in reuse and recycling, but where that isn’t possible, we’re able to divert waste from landfill without the need for incineration.
“Your council thought ahead to invest in sustainable technology 10 years ago, and we did it again last year by modernising our weekly waste collections. We’ll keep innovating so our city can keep making a positive contribution to tackling climate change.”
