What goes on inside Leeds’ stunning vertical garden - a £140m recycling facility that creates enough power for 20,000 homes across the region.
The Leeds Recycling and Energy Recovery facility (RERF) is the flagship development at the heart of Leeds’ integrated waste strategy for the next two decades.
The striking 138ft tall building is believed to be one of the tallest timber buildings on the continent.
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Built near Pontefract Lane at the site of the former Leeds wholesale markets, the incinerator is responsible for dealing with all the black bag bin waste in the city.
Leeds City Council said the facility at Cross Green will burn up to 150,000 tonnes of landfill waste a year.
It was opened in April 2016, and costs the council a staggering £555m to build and run the facility over the next 25 years.
But the council said it would save roughly £200m compared to the expenses to pay in landfill taxes.
Rubbish that is brought to the facility is put through a Mechanical Pre-Treatment (MPT) process where it is shredded and then sorted to extract recyclable material that was in the black bin.
Plastics, paper and cardboard, metals like drink cans are then sent to re processors where they can be made into new products.
The plan can take out up to 20 percent of waste for recycling.
The facility operates 24 hours a day around the clock.
When all the recyclables have been removed the remaining waste is burned and the heat is then used to turn water into steam, which powers a turbine to generate enough power for 22,000 homes.
The water used in the process is then recycled.
Lucinda Yeadon, LCC executive member for environment and sustainability, said: "This excellent facility is at the heart of our commitment to sustainability and making the best use of our resources.
"It allows us to divert black bin waste away from landfill and into environmentally-friendly recycling or energy creation."
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