Decarbonisation works in Islington praised by local Mayor

Sustainability upgrades at Islington Waste and Recycling Centre celebrated at official opening ceremony.

A newly transformed waste and recycling centre on Hornsey Street in Islington has officially been launched at an opening ceremony.

The opening marks the completion of a particularly ambitious and challenging project undertaken Islington Council, who are committed to reducing their emissions to combat the climate emergency in a bid to reach net zero by 2030.

We visited the London borough to attend the ceremony and meet stakeholders, discuss the council’s net zero ambitions and how this project supports these aims.

The ceremony was officially opened by former Mayor of Islington Councillor Gary Heather, who said in his opening remarks: “It’s great that the council has got the vision to do this, and to make the waste recycling centre much more environmentally friendly.”

Also attending the event was Councillor Rowena Champion, executive member for environment, air quality and transport for Islington. 

She said: “This is an amazing project of which we are incredibly proud, but, actually, it’s about how we change things for the people of Islington, and the people of the world.

“This will help with our vision for a greener, healthier Islington, but also really help us to tackle the climate emergency.”

The transformation project was centred around the replacement of an old, gas-fired heating system with air source heat pumps, retrofitting air handling units to remove gas-powered coils and replace them with electric equivalents, and the installation of a large solar pv array. 

The project received £908,893 in funding through Phase 3a of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. The funding is delivered by Salix on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The waste and recycling centre was identified as a suitable candidate for works as it was previously the least efficient building across the council’s estate with the highest level of gas consumption.

Felisa Zainuddin, senior energy projects and programmes officer at London Borough of Islington, said: “The centre was previously one of our biggest emitters from gas consumption, accounting for around 9% of the gas consumed by 95 key buildings that the council have.”

The centre hosts the North London Waste Authority to handle waste and recycling and is also the location of the council’s fleet operation and maintenance, as well as a council office. Power generated through the solar array installed as a part of the works will be used as additional capacity to existing panels, which will help to power the electric fleet. 

The council’s sustainability momentum continues, with multiple other green projects tracking toward completion. Our teams at Salix are supporting some of these works, which have received funding through Phase 3b and Phase 3c of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

Hélène Jacques, energy projects team manager at London Borough of Islington, said: “This project was the pilot and flagship project, but we have a whole decarbonisation programme in the pipeline, so while it is a great first step and we’ve learned so much, we’re not stopping here - there’s more to come.”

Daniel Lenton, programme coordinator at Salix, said: “We look forward to continuing to work with Islington Council on their ongoing and future works, and to seeing how the projects work together to support their net zero ambitions.”

Successful Phase 3c Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme grant recipients have now been announced by the government. You can read more about the organisations and projects funded through this scheme via the Government website.