Workers building Viridor’s Beddington Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Sutton have chosen to donate £1,000 to Merton Mencap after reaching 500,000 working hours without a lost time incident.
Over the summer there have been around 450 construction workers at the site and ensuring that everyone goes home safely at the end of each day is the top priority. The £205m cutting-edge ERF is about to enter its commissioning phase. Once operational in 2018 it will safely transform non-recyclable waste from the four London Boroughs which make up the South London Waste Partnership (Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton) into enough energy to power the facility itself plus around 30,000 homes. The development supports the Partnership’s aspiration to increase recycling, divert all of the remaining waste from going to landfill and recover energy from what remains.
Throughout the construction project, milestones of safe working have been recognised by charity donations, with the workers onsite selecting from the Mayor’s charities in the South London Waste Partnership Boroughs. On this occasion Merton Mencap, an independent charity providing support and services for children, young people and adults with a learning disability and their family carers in the London Borough of Merton, was nominated and welcomed to the site for a cheque presentation.
“This milestone is a very important one for the project. The ERF at Beddington will provide a vital service to households in south London and, as we near completion, we have a large number of different contractors onsite. Ensuring that they all work safely is critical to completing the project on time and we are pleased that the hard work to keep the site safe can benefit the fantastic work Mencap do in the communities of Merton.”Rob Tubb, Project Director for Viridor
“We are delighted that by working safely at the Beddington Energy Recovery Facility people in Merton with learning disabilities and their families are able to benefit. Like the construction project, every day we work to offer services and activities to support vulnerable people to be safer, healthier, develop interests and take part in the mainstream as far as possible. We also support parents and carers in their caring roles. We are very grateful for this donation and it will mean that we can continue supporting our community."Andrew Whittington, Chief Executive of Merton Mencap