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Incineration: Its far from rubbish!
Operated by Veolia, the Leeds Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility (RERF), is key to the city’s contribution to tackling climate change. Part of a private finance initiative (PFI) contract, between Leeds City Council and Veolia, this became fully operational in 2016.
Aiming to boost the city’s recycling rates, the RERF is designed to remove recyclable waste from black bins and recover energy from what is left over. The energy that the RERF facility generates is exported to the National Grid as electricity, powering up to 22,000 homes. The aim to provide heating and hot water to local homes and businesses, whilst helping to tackle fuel poverty and significantly reducing the amount of waste that is sent to landfill.
42m high, the innovative building is based upon the use of glass and timber and boasts a green ‘living’ wall to the southern façade, enhancing the visual – if you drove past, you would not know it was an incinerator! Their visitor centre offers people the opportunity to learn more about the facility, whilst educating people on waste and recycling.
At 28 metres tall, it is one of Europe’s tallest, award winning, living walls, boasting a 1,800m2 vertical forest, incorporating over 100,000 plants and over 700 habitat boxes. With a seven-storey administration block to house both Veolia and Leeds City Council employees, there is also a visitors viewing walkway cantilevering over the living wall at a height of some 23 metres – not for those with a fear of heights, as our team who recently visited found out.
Being part of the Packaging Industry, we have an important role to play, and it is our responsibility to ensure we do our bit for the environment. Our Academy, designed with an unbiased view of plastic packaging, allows us to provide you with the tools and knowledge needed to protect and preserve products, without causing harm to the environment.
In one section, we look at the benefits Veolia has to offer, as part of a discussion about incinerators and landfills. We also look at areas such as packaging disposal, packaging waste management and consumer responsibility, whilst asking questions such as ‘What does happen to our waste?’ and ‘Who’s responsible for it?’.
“Very much enjoyed the Academy, very informative, interactive, and surprising with the facts. I would love to attend again!”
We like to ensure all our people from around our business have the opportunity to attend educational visits, providing valuable educational opportunities away from the workplace. Here’s a few members from our IT, Technical, Customer Champions, QA, Production, and Sales Development teams looking beautiful!
Our people have the skills needed to guide you in making the best packaging solutions for your products, and our Academy is one way in which we can delve further, for those who would simply like to learn more.
“Fab presentation thank you so much. Well-delivered and fun!”
100% of people who have attended our Academy would recommend it.
Oh… and did we tell you, our Academy presentations are FREE?!
E: joanna@nationalflexible.net for more information, or to book your place.