Glasgow RREC

Of the vast tonnage of household waste that is collected annually by Glasgow City Council, the vast majority, 72%, was sent to landfill in 2016.

With annual hikes in landfill tax and ambitious Scottish Government zero waste targets focusing on waste reduction, re-use, enhanced recycling and recovering renewable energy from what remains, the council has been working towards great change.

Glasgow has now changed gear with a state-of-the-art recycling and sustainable waste management facility at its long established waste treatment plant at Polmadie, radically overhauling the way the city’s household waste is managed throughout the coming years.

The Glasgow Recycling and Renewable Energy Centre (GRREC) handles approx. 222,000 tonnes of residual waste every year. The plant, working in combination with city wide blue, brown and purple bin recycling, diverts 90% of green bin residual waste away from landfill, saving millions of pounds, releasing recyclable resources from household waste and producing valuable heat and power from one of the most advanced waste management facilities in Europe.

The facility produces enough energy to power the equivalent of 26,496 households and heat the equivalent of some 8,000 homes, delivering a saving to Glasgow of 90,000 tonnes of CO² every year.

At the same time it will deliver a saving to the city of circa £254m during the 25 year contract, creating new jobs, including 20 apprentices, and 217 work experience placements, supporting local social enterprises and small and medium sized businesses throughout the build programme and beyond.

 

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