The UK’s largest recycling, waste management and energy recovery company, Viridor, is cutting its annual road miles by more than 160,000 across the busy route between Cardiff and Bristol, the company has announced.

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Viridor, which owns and operates the Trident Park Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Cardiff, diverts in excess of 350,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste from landfill and generates 30MW of electricity for the national grid – enough to power around 50,000 homes.

Trident Park ERF Operations Manager Tim Stamper said the annual reduction in road miles (162,268) was being achieved by moving most of its incinerator bottom ash (the material which remains after the non-recyclable waste has been used as a fuel to generate electricity) by rail instead of road.

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Changing the method of transportation from road to rail will also achieve a 50% reduction in annual transport emissions.

The ash collected leaves the docks at Cardiff and goes on to Day Group Ltd in Avonmouth for further processing and metal recovery prior to being used in aggregate industries, including road construction. It is part of Viridor’s commitment to seeing waste as a resource and not rubbish, identifying a purpose for all materials.

Approximately 172,00 tonnes of the waste processed by Viridor at Trident Park ERF, is delivered by the five Councils which make up the Prosiect Gwyrdd (Project Green) partnership: Cardiff, Newport, Monmouthshire, Vale of Glamorgan and Caerphilly.