- Over ten years after the installation of the Envac waste management system, Wembley Park residents are recycling five times more than the national average for apartments.
- The system is continuing to be rolled out across Wembley Park – one of the UK’s biggest and most exciting development sites – and when complete will remove an estimated 700 tonnes of carbon emissions from the local environment and have the capacity to handle up to 6,000 tonnes of waste and recycling per year.
- Over a decade after the installation of the first Envac waste system in the UK at Wembley Park, developer Quintain is celebrating the huge benefits the system has delivered for the environment, the people and the space around the site.
Quintain was the first UK developer to install the Envac automated vacuum waste system in 2008 with a view to increasing domestic recycling rates and contribute towards creating a sustainable environment. The Envac system vacuums waste that has been emptied into inlets through a series of underground tunnels at speeds of up to 70kph into a single collection station, reducing the need for unsightly on-street bins and significantly reducing the need for refuse lorry collections. The figures revealed today demonstrate the positive impact the Envac system is having at Wembley Park:
Wembley Park residents are bucking the trend and have recycled up to 5 times more food waste than the national average for apartments;
- Since opening, the system has collected around 3,000 tonnes of recycling;
- The system has helped increase the local authority’s recycling rates by 30%;
- Refuse lorry trips have been dramatically reduced, meaning emissions have gone down by 90%, saving an estimated 700 tonnes of carbon emissions each year from the local environment once Wembley Park is completed;
- Waste that is unable to be recycled is more sustainably disposed of than traditional refuse. Excess waste from Wembley Park is taken to a waste-to-energy plant to be incinerated and converted into electricity, so nothing from the Envac system ends up in landfill.
The system has also saved a significant amount of ground level space at the 85-acre site. Envac will save the space of 1,116 traditional wheelie bins, the equivalent of 237 car park spaces or 184 shipping containers. This has allowed for significantly more active spaces for amenities in the Tipi residential buildings and shared social uses for residents. One of the major residential and retail development plots at Wembley Park, which completed in December 2018 – home to Tipi’s Landsby and Scala buildings – was able to increase retail floor space by approximately 2,000sqft through the reduced bin storage areas alone.
Over 4,000 metres of Envac infrastructure is installed throughout Wembley Park. Quintain’s progressive thinking and significant investment to incorporate Envac into the masterplan so early allowed London Designer Outlet to connect to the system prior to opening in 2013, as well as the Hilton hotel in 2012. The Envac system has the capacity to handle up to 6,000 tonnes of waste and recycling per year, and will be capable of serving homes across Wembley Park once the development is complete. Tipi will manage 5,000 homes at Wembley Park and the Envac system is a prime example of the kind of services being installed across the estate to reduce costs and pollution while promoting energy efficiency and sustainability.
Councillor Krupa Sheth, Lead Member for Environment at Brent Council, said:
“This is a great example of a developer leading the way, using the latest technology to increase recycling and cut carbon emissions. Wembley Park was the first place in the UK to use this technology and it’s another reason why Brent is getting cleaner and greener. Quintain and Brent Council continue to work closely together to ensure that Wembley Park is a safe, clean and green place to live”
Sue Shepherd, Centre Manager at London Designer Outlet, said:
“With its ability to handle multiple waste streams, Envac has proved invaluable at London Designer Outlet, especially for the many restaurants and coffee shops on site. Our tenants segregate their waste and Envac does the rest, making operations run much more smoothly”
Dave Buckley, Envac UK’s Managing Director, said:
“The case for Envac from a sustainability standpoint is compelling, and the fact that the system is enabling Wembley Park residents to recycle up to five times more than the national average for flatted properties is an excellent example of what the technology can achieve. The system’s ability to maximise land space, particularly in cities like London where developable land is limited and the cost of land is high, appeals to local government and developers, who can now free up valuable space that can be used for other, more productive purposes as opposed to housing fleets of bins. As the population increases and developable land shrinks, this is going to become more important and Envac will increasingly become the go to waste collection solution.”
James Saunders, Chief Executive Officer at Quintain, said:
“We are very proud of the sustainable environment we have been able to create at Wembley Park, and a large part of that is due to the Envac system. The fact our residents are recycling five times the national average is a testament to the convenience and sustainability of Envac. Meanwhile, the lack of wheelie bins and rubbish trucks makes Wembley Park a safer, cleaner and more attractive place and the ground floor space saved in our buildings is critical to our ability to create more active street frontages. Alongside cities like Stockholm, Barcelona, Hong Kong and Singapore, we believe automated vacuum waste systems, such as Envac, are the next great innovation for the modern way of living.”
