Media Centre

Recycling trial on East Coast trains declared a success

24 Jun 2009

Train firm gears up to beat landfill waste cut target 

Train operator National Express East Coast says a recycling trial aimed at helping the company cut the amount of waste it generates in half has proved a success.

The news comes during Recycle Week, a national initiative aimed at encouraging everyone to try something new to reduce the mountain of waste sent to landfill sites across the UK every year.

National Express East Coast trialled dedicated recycling trolleys on board selected trains across its key routes, linking London with the East Midlands, Yorkshire, North East England and Scotland, for ten weeks between mid February and April.

Results from the trial have now come in and show:

• an impressive 11.5 tonnes of waste was saved from going to landfill sites
• 1700 sacks of recycled products were collected
• 50 per cent of the recycled waste was paper
• 35 per cent of all waste collected on board trains during the trial was recycled

The train firm will now use the lessons learned from the trial as it works towards its commitment to cut non hazardous waste from its trains by 50 per cent, by March next year.

Carolyn Bell, Environment Manager at National Express East Coast, said: “We are delighted at the success of the recycling trolley trials and would like to thank our customers and staff for their enthusiastic support.

“Many customers told us how pleased they were to see us taking the initiative, but for us, this is just the beginning.

“The results have given us a wealth of information. We now have a clearer pattern of what waste our trains produce, and where and when we can best target our efforts to reduce waste.

“We’re now looking at the materials we use on our trains to come up with greener alternatives. We’re also talking with retail outlets on the stations we manage to help them identify alternatives.”

During the trials, a mobile trolley was taken along the train’s nine carriages, with staff on hand to separate waste into colour coded bags.

Customers were also encouraged to separate waste, such as newspapers, aluminium cans and plastic and glass bottles, and place in the trolley as it moved through the train. Announcements were made on board and customers enthusiastically supported the recycling collections.

The waste collected was then taken to a dedicated processing centre at Newcastle station, where it was sorted before being collected by local company North East Recycling.

ENDS.

Note to editors:

Recycle Week continues until Sunday 28 June across the UK. More details, including how to pledge support, are available online at http://www.recyclenow.com.