Request for details of the waste sent to the Edmonton Ecopark energy-from-waste facility which originated from outside of north London

1. This request is being handled under the Environmental Information Regulations (EiR) 2004 and has been allocated the reference number 2021-95[1] . The table below provides the information you have requested for the period 2015-2020.

Quantities, waste type and source of materials sent to the energy-from-waste facility at the Edmonton EcoPark for the period 2015 – 2020 from outside of north London

2. The table includes details of all materials from non-NLWA sources, which were received at the energy-from-waste facility at the Edmonton EcoPark (both direct delivery to the energy-from-waste facility and into the Fuel Preparation Facility for shredding prior to going into the energy-from-waste facility), that equated to a least one tonne when rounded for the financial years 2015/16 to 2019/20. As a comparison the amount of waste going to the energy-from-waste facility from NLWA in the same five years was as follows: 2015/16 – 490,037, 2016/17 – 466, 660, 2017/18 – 450,694, 2018/19 – 449,753 and 2019/20 – 466,525 tonnes.

3. The information provided is anonymised to protect commercial confidentiality. This is in line with exception 12 (5)e of the Environmental Information Regulations, whereby exceptions are allowed for ‘Commercial or industrial information where such confidentiality is provided by law to protect legitimate economic interest’.

4. The public interest test for releasing more detailed information about the origin of the waste is:

• That by providing the details of the organisations sending waste to the Edmonton energy-from-waste facility for treatment, residents would better understand the sources of waste entering the facility and sphere of influence of the facility and journey distances travelled.

5. The public interest arguments for withholding this more detailed information are:

• Releasing customer information would be in contravention of commercial confidentiality arrangements and the expectations of LondonEnergy Ltd’s customers.
• Releasing the information may reduce the company’s capacity to obtain the best commercial rates going forwards.

6. We have also included, as requested a breakdown of the type of waste received.

7. Please note that we do not hold complete data for the financial year 2020/21 because LondonEnergy Ltd has changed their weighbridge system for measuring the tonnages of waste coming in, so any request for this data covering the current financial year will need to be re-directed to LondonEnergy Ltd. You can find details of how to make such a request here: https://www.londonenergyltd.com/about-us/freedom-of-information/

8. Because the Authority does not hold the information you have requested for 2020/21 this response accordingly acts as a refusal notice under the Environmental Information Regulations (EiR). We are therefore making an exemption to the release of the 2020/21 information under Regulation 12 (4) of the EiR, namely that the Authority does not hold the information.

9. Going forwards there are some operational changes which will impact upon the amount of third -party waste going into the energy-from-waste facility. The majority of the residual waste that NLWA handles from London Borough of Barnet and Camden collection services is bulked up at a waste transfer station in Hendon, from where it is put onto a train with a direct connection to FCC’s Greatmoor energy recovery facility in Buckinghamshire.

10. Due to the residential and commercial redevelopment of the Hendon area, from April 2021 all of this waste is to be bulked at an alternative waste transfer station in Wembley which is not connected by rail. From the Wembley transfer station as much residual waste as possible will therefore be transported by road to the Edmonton energy-from-waste facility in line with the proximity principle of disposing of the waste as close as possible to the point of generation. The Hendon material will displace third-party waste that has hitherto been accepted at the Edmonton energy-from-waste facility. Any remaining residual material will need to be disposed elsewhere. Therefore, from 2021/22 we anticipate the quantity of third-party waste being significantly reduced.

11. I trust the information provided answers your request, but if you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

12. If you are dissatisfied with this response and wish to appeal, please reply to this email or submit a complaint via our website complaints page at: https://www.nlwa.gov.uk/enquiry-form

13. Your request should be submitted to us within 40 working days of receipt by you of this response.

14. If you are still not satisfied, you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner:

https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

0303 123 1113

 Yours sincerely