Last weekend, a freight train made the first delivery of waste by rail to enfinium’s site at the former Ferrybridge power station in West Yorkshire.
enfinium is one of the UK’s leading companies that transform waste into energy. The arrival of the train marks an expansion of the area from where waste will be delivered to the company’s facilities at Ferrybridge 1 and 2.
Using rail to transport waste reduces road traffic and lowers CO2 emissions; it also highlights the possibility of using rail freight to connect the plant to a Carbon Capture and Storage cluster as an alternative to pipeline connections.
Freightliner delivered the waste in collaboration with enfinium’s industry partner, SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK.
The train conveyed about 700 tonnes of household waste and brought back memories of trains delivering to Ferrybridge when it was a coal-fired power station.
The delivery shows that rail freight can be used to deliver more unrecyclable waste to Ferrybridge from across the North of England instead of taking it to a climate-damaging landfill.
Delivering waste by rail also brings significant environmental benefits as it reduces road traffic, with this delivery alone displacing around 40 waste trucks.
In its Net Zero Transition Plan, enfinium committed to reaching net zero across its operations by 2033, with this delivery being a significant step in those plans.
In Austria, a contract between ÖBB Rail Cargo Group and FCC Austria will save an estimated 400 tonnes of CO2 each year. Eurostar has also committed to using 100% renewable energy to power its trains by 2030
I am delighted that this trial has connected Ferrybridge to the UK’s rail network for the first time. I am grateful for the support of SUEZ and Freightliner in enabling us to achieve this step. It has opened up a range of opportunities for the business to help local authorities around the UK divert their unrecyclable waste away from climate damaging landfill.
Rail transport is a critical part of our plans to transform our Ferrybridge site into a decarbonisation hub. Not only will greater use of rail reduce our emissions, it marks an important milestone for our carbon capture deployment plans. Transporting CO2 by rail to a coastal cluster for permanent storage offshore is one of the ways we can accelerate the decarbonisation of this strategically important site and help the West Yorkshire region achieve its 2038 Net Zero target.
Dr Jane Atkinson CBE, Chief Operating Officer at enfinium
This is an exciting opportunity for SUEZ, and it builds on the significant experience we’ve gained moving waste by trains elsewhere in the country. Transporting waste by rail helps to reduce road traffic and produces significantly lower emission compared to transporting it by road.
It was great to work with enfinium and Freightliner to make this delivery a reality and see the first waste delivery by train to Ferrybridge. More opportunities to move waste by train allows the industry to think differently about how waste is transported and disposed of.
Daniel Carolan from SUEZ
We are delighted to be involved in this important and first of its kind trial alongside enfinum and SUEZ. Freightliner’s ability to build strong, long-standing relationships with our customers allows us to deliver reliable and safe services.
This trial showcases the importance of the development of rail across the UK and beyond in order to support and help achieve key sustainability targets, remove traffic from our busy road network and to support moving more volume by rail.
Ed Wilson, Commercial Director at Freightliner
Responses
If they can’t get enough waste why are Yorkshire firm Transwaste sending lorries full of household waste to Fleetwood and causing people to become ill because as the owner said he is not Qualified to run a landfill .The sooner this problem is solved the better for everyone with possible exemptions of Transwaste or as it is know in Fleetwood Transhite
What about Sunderland??? Plant Very close to port line.
Hasn’t been posted first time
Oh great it smells of burning dinner most nights especially in winter ,what about out air quality
That’s nice isn’t it… But if you take a trip to the Cambridge museum of technology energy from waste happened in Victorian England
The road infrastructure cannot cope with the current trucks at 09:00 when the facility opens, queuing back onto the dual carriageway is an accident waiting to happen.
By including “currently” in your comment you imply that this story is increasing the road use – it is NOT -they’re removing lorries from the road by transporting waste by railways.
Well I wish them well and has to be more environmentally friendly than the wood burning going on down the road at Drax.
Just wonder where the waste will come from. Lots of cities, like Leeds ( 10 miles away) already have large district heating incinerators run by private companies and struggle to keep them fed!
Excellent news. That should also start to reduce the plastic waste litter blowing off the lorries delivering to the site that blight the A1 and surrounding villages as the wagon drivers take short cuts to avoid the local road works.
I bet you it ends up in Withyhedge landfill in Pembrokeshire. Everybody else’s waste does.
Could have done this with coal, its on the doorstep