Edmonton EcoPark is a

waste-to-energy Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) refers to a series of processes designed to convert waste materials into usable forms of energy, typically electricity or heat. As a form of energy recovery, WtE plays a crucial role in both wa ...

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

which burns waste from several

London boroughs The London boroughs are the current 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs wer ...

to provide electricity for the National Grid. It is located on the

River Lee Navigation The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea (also called the River Lee along the sections that are navigable). It flows from Hertford Castle Weir to the River Thames at Bow Creek; its first lock is Hertford Lock and i ...

and bordered by the

North Circular Road The North Circular Road (officially the A406 and sometimes known as simply the North Circular) is a ring road around Central London. It runs from Chiswick in the west to North Woolwich in the east via suburban north London, connecting var ...

, in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

in the

London Borough of Enfield The London Borough of Enfield () is a London boroughs, London borough in Greater London, England. The main communities in the borough are Edmonton, London, Edmonton, Enfield, London, Enfield, Southgate, London, Southgate and Palmers Green. Enfi ...

. It is also known as Edmonton EcoPark.

History

The facility was commissioned (began operations) in 1971, by the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

. The building is of metal sheet clad construction with a

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typical ...

. It was described by

Bridget Cherry Bridget Cherry (born 17 May 1941) is a British architectural historian who was series editor of the Pevsner Architectural Guides from 1971 until 2002, and is the author or co-author of several volumes in the series.London Borough The London boroughs are the current 32 districts of England, local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present ...

s: Barnet, Camden, Enfield,

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, Hackney,

Haringey The London Borough of Haringey ( , same as Harringay) is a London borough in north London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the amalgamation of three forme ...

, and

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is an outer London borough formed in 1965 from the merger of the municipal boroughs of Leyton, Walthamstow and Chingford. The borough's administrative headquarters are at Waltham Forest Town Hall, wh ...

. The

waste Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor Value (economics), economic value. A wast ...

is converted into

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalent bond, covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in a gas state at room temperature and at norma ...

bottom ash Bottom ash is part of the non- combustible residue of combustion in a power plant, boiler, furnace, or incinerator. In an industrial context, it has traditionally referred to coal combustion and comprises traces of combustibles embedded in for ...

, air pollution control residue, and other flue gases. 55

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s (MW) of electricity are generated, sufficient power to meet the needs of 24,000 households. In early 2002, plans were rejected for a large expansion of the waste-to-energy facility, which would have made it the largest household waste incinerator in Europe. Permissions had been granted by both the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

and Enfield Council, but on 23 May 2002, Energy Minister

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

refused the plans on the basis of the 2000 Waste Strategy. In January 2021,

Taylor Woodrow Construction Taylor Woodrow Construction, branded as Taylor Woodrow, is a UK-based civil engineering contractor and one of four operating divisions of Vinci Construction UK. The business was launched in 2011, combining civil engineering operations from the ...

started work on an expansion of the facility known as "EcoPark South": the new plant, with a capacity to recover 135,000 tonnes of material each year, was due to be completed in 2023. The resource recovery facility and an EcoPark visitor centre were completed on budget, but costs on a larger contract for an energy recovery facility rose from £1.2bn to £1.5bn, due to construction material and wage inflation. Completion of the project by

Acciona Acciona, S.A. () is a Spanish multinational conglomerate dedicated to the development and management of infrastructure (construction, water, industrial and services) and renewable energy. The company, via subsidiary Acciona Energía, produces 21 ...

, originally scheduled for 2025, was delayed to 2027.

Environmental impact and protests

The site has been the scene of a demonstration by

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

, who are against all

incinerators Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high ...

because they emit "a cocktail of chemicals that can cause cancers and asthma attacks", and that incineration "undermines targets for waste reduction and recycling". In October 2000 they scaled and occupied the station's

, shutting its operations down for four days. The incinerator has also been campaigned against by

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...

and Londoners Against Incineration. An

report on the safety of incinerator ash was published in May 2002. It highlighted that up until 2000, ash from Edmonton had been used in the manufacture of construction blocks, which was hazardous because of the raised levels of

dioxins Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) are a group of chemical compounds that are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment. They are mostly by-products of burning or various industrial processes or, in the case of dioxin-like PC ...

in dust from the blocks. However, the practice ceased in August 2000. In 2007, there were concerns that a rise in infant deaths in the area was caused by fumes from the incinerator.

Today

The site is run by LondonEnergy. Trials are being carried out to use the River Lee Navigation in transporting materials to the incinerator. A large composting facility opened on the site in 2006, allowing green and kitchen waste from local homes to be converted into

compost Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by Decomposition, decomposing plant and food waste, recycling organic materials, and man ...

References

External links

Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society- Technical informationDesign Journal article
{{Incineration in the United Kingdom Power stations in London Waste power stations in England Waste management in London Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Enfield Lee Navigation Edmonton, London Recycling in the United Kingdom Composting