New recycling machine keeps green clean-up on track

To clean the land for the London 2012 Games and legacy the new machine is shaking, separating and sorting up to 500 tonnes of industrial and domestic waste a day into piles of glass, metal, concrete, soil and other materials to be reused on site or recycled off site.

Lottery has already raised over £200 million towards the ‘greenest Games’
The recycling machine, alongside one existing and two new soil washing machines, keeps the ODA on track to meet its target of reusing or recycling over 90 per cent of demolition materials. The ODA’s work to make London 2012 the ‘greenest Games’ of modern times is supported by the Olympic Lottery Distributor which today announced that over £200m has been raised for London 2012 through designated National Lottery games.

The ODA aims to clear and clean the majority of the 2.5 square kilometres Olympic Park by Beijing 2008, which includes demolishing over 250 buildings and cleaning 1.3 million tonnes of contaminated soil with only a small amount of waste, such as asbestos, going to landfill.

ODA Head of Sustainable Development and Regeneration, Dan Epstein, said:

'We are committed to making London 2012 the greenest Games in modern times. We have a major challenge to clear and clean the majority of the Olympic Park by Beijing 2008 and meet our tough targets to recycle or reuse materials wherever possible. By setting new standards in sustainable construction we, and our contractors, are on track to meet these commitments.'

Chair of the Olympic Lottery Distributor, Janet Paraskeva, said:

'National Lottery players have raised £200m so far to support London 2012. There are many reasons why the London Games can surpass all others but one of the aims is to make it the “greenest” Games in modern times. National Lottery money is helping the Olympic Delivery Authority set high standards in minimising waste and encouraging biodiversity. Today’s announcement on how the ODA are introducing innovative techniques to help achieve its targets is an excellent example of how National Lottery funding is making a real difference.'

Landfill material is loaded into the recycling machine, based on the Velopark site, which shakes out soil out and removes metal using electromagnets. Lastly, operatives pick the remaining recyclable materials off a conveyor belt by hand. Separated materials are then stored to be reused on site or sent to an offsite recycling centre, with a small amount of unusable material sent to registered landfill sites. It’s one of the first times this kind of process has been carried out on a construction site rather than at an offsite location, helping the ODA meet its commitment to minimise the number of lorries going in and out of the Olympic Park.

The ODA has demolished over 70 buildings on the Olympic Park and continues to beat its target of reusing or recycling over 90 per cent of demolition and excavated materials, set out in its Sustainable Development Strategy earlier this year. A ‘materials register’ will provide designers with a breakdown of the separated and stockpiled materials which they can reuse in the design of venues, landscaping, bridges, footpaths and other elements of the Olympic Park. This helps avoid materials ending up in a landfill site and creates a link between ‘old’ and ‘new’ within the Park.

Over 1.3 million tonnes of soil on the Olympic Park needs to be cleaned of contamination including petrol, oil, tar and heavy metals such as arsenic and lead. A 50 tonne soil washing machine on the Aquatics Centre site has already cleaned and sorted for reuse nearly 10,000 tonnes of contaminated soil. Two new soil washing machines, both capable of cleaning twice as much soil as the existing machine, are currently being trialled in remediation centres in the north and south of the Olympic Park.

– Ends –

- The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is funded by The National Lottery, the London Development Agency, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Greater London Authority. This investment is creating the facilities and infrastructure needed to host the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. It will also provide a lasting legacy for the people of east London and the UK.

For further information please contact the Olympic Delivery Authority Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 700.

Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ on our Work in Progress blog http://www.london2012.com/blog