Millerhill Recycling and Energy Recovery Centre continues to power homes

With the lockdown in place, many workplaces closed and employees who can work from home doing so, where the waste comes from has changed.

At the outset of the Covid-19 crisis, workers at Millerhill RERC along with others like it were given Key Worker status as the Government recognised the vital role the waste sector needed to play in keeping waste and recycling collections and waste processing going. As such, the plant has remained open, operating normally and continuing to power 22,000 homes across Edinburgh and Midlothian and ensuring that residential waste does not end up in landfill.

Millerhill RERC takes non-recyclable waste from across the County and burns it to produce steam, that in turn powers a turbine and generates electricity. The Millerhill facility has been providing local residents and businesses with energy for almost a year now and provides an environmentally friendly alternative to landfill.

Mark Keast, general manager at FCC Environment, said: “The coronavirus pandemic has given us some new and unknown challenges, however, we have been able to respond quickly to ensure that we continue to put energy into the grid. The team here are working hard to ensure that homes across Edinburgh and Midlothian do not see an impact to their energy supply and that once people start to return to work, we are ready to power their workplaces as well”.

Councillor John Hackett, Midlothian Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for waste services, said: “It is crucial that even throughout this pandemic we do not lose sight of our environmental targets. Before Millerhill opened around two thirds of our waste went to landfill, working together with FCC Environment has meant the facility has remained open and our communities’ waste is not sent to landfill. I’d like to take the opportunity also to thank our residents who are continuing to recycle responsibly. It’s a fantastic partnership approach all round.”

Around 107,000 people in the waste and resource management industry have been identified by the Government as key workers, among them are 37 people from FCC Environment working on behalf of Edinburgh City and Midlothian Council. New ways of working have been put in place at the facility to ensure the government’s social distancing guidelines are adhered to, whilst keeping the plant operational.