Enfield Council announced this week that Barrowell Green, the borough's recycling centre, had recycled 65% of the material at the site over the past year.
The facility in Winchmore Hill recycles more than 25 different items including batteries, clothes, fridges and rubble and diverts 72% of the waste taken there from landfill or incineration. In many cases this material is composted, recycled or, best of all, reused.
The centre is visited by more than 250,000 people and processes more than 13,000 tonnes of waste each year. On its busiest days it can see one person passing through the gates every 45 seconds – or around 1,300 people a day.
Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Daniel Anderson, said: “Barrowell Green is an incredibly busy recycling site, which sees thousands of people a week and manages thousands of tonnes of waste each year.
“Thanks to the sterling efforts of our staff and contractor Suez, 65% of material left by residents at the site is recycled, and in all 72% of the waste taken to Barrowell Green is diverted from landfill or incineration.
“Reducing disposal costs and creating a cleaner borough is in everyone’s interests. By significantly increasing our recycling rates we can save the borough millions of pounds and make a real difference to our environment.”
When visiting Barrowell Green please remember:
- Be ready to separate your items, so load them in your car to enable this;
- Use the right bins;
- Don’t be rude to staff – it won’t be tolerated;
- No commercial waste – we must check so please help us by being patient.
Each year Enfield residents recycle 39% of their waste, but the Council wants this figure to increase to 50% by 2020. Hitting this target would save the Council about £1 million a year in lower waste disposal fees. Saving the money is crucial because reductions in government funding and increasing pressure on services mean that the council needs to save £58.5m by 2020/21, this is on top of the £131m we have already saved since 2010.
Please always check before travelling to the site.