Request
In the past there was an in-vessel composting (IVC) facility at the Edmonton Ecopark. This was used for processing food and garden waste collected from north London residents. When the IVC was operational, community groups were able to request free compost that had been made at the facility. The request for information was about why is it no longer possible for community groups to receive free compost made from north London's garden and food waste from North London Waste Authority.
Response
I can confirm that the compost plant at the Edmonton EcoPark has now closed. With construction work starting, ground investigation work was needed to prepare for the new Energy Recovery Facility (ERF). The ground investigation work needed to be carried out in the area where the In-Vessel Composter (IVC) was located, which meant that the IVC will be closed for the foreseeable future.
The current energy centre at the EcoPark is nearly 50 years old and needs replacing to enable us to continue to process north London’s residual waste. Whilst every effort is made to encourage recycling across north London, not everyone recycles and not everything is recyclable so the ‘leftover’ waste needs disposing of properly and safely. Further details are available on our website at https://www.nlwa.gov.uk/news/closure-vessel-composting-ivc-facility
North London’s garden and food waste has instead been going to the following locations:
- Separately collected food waste – to anaerobic digestion facilities at Bygrave and Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire and Westwood in Northants. All these facilities meet and are certified to the British Standards Institution's Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 110.
- Mixed food and garden waste – to the in-vessel composting facility at Envar in Cambridgeshire, this facility meets and is certified to PAS 100.
- Separately collected garden waste - goes to open air windrows in Ongar Essex, Swanley Kent, Lackford Suffolk and Beddingham East Sussex these sites meet and are certified to PAS 100. The proportions of material being sent to the different locations may change over time.
Due to the cost and space restrictions at the EcoPark site the processed compost cannot be returned and made available to north London residents. NLWA will keep under review its ability to provide compost. This will include looking at the use of land on the EcoPark site following completion of the new Energy Recovery Facility and demolition of the existing energy centre. More information about this project is available on the separate project website http://northlondonheatandpower.london/
