Fire at Beddington Lane Waste Transfer Station – impact on recycling and rubbish collections

A fire was reported this morning at 10.23am at the Beddington Lane (Sutton) waste management site operated by Viridor.  The site is where all of the non-recyclable household rubbish and a significant amount of household recycling from the four South London Waste Partnership boroughs (Croydon, Kingston, Merton and Sutton) is sent for storage and/or treatment.

The large Beddington Lane site is home to a number of waste and recycling operations, including a Transfer Station (where recycling is bulked before it is sent elsewhere for reprocessing) and an Energy Recovery Facility (which treats non-recyclable household rubbish).  This morning’s fire was located at the Transfer Station, not at the Energy Recovery Facility.

The London Fire Brigade quickly brought the fire under control.  They remain on site to monitor and manage the fire. Viridor have confirmed that there were no injuries, no risk to public health and that the Environment Agency has been informed.  Once the fire has been extinguished a full investigation will take place into its cause.

Deliveries of all recycling and rubbish to the Beddington Lane site were suspended for a period of time this morning while the Fire Brigade worked to bring the fire under control.  Deliveries of food waste and rubbish to the site have now resumed. Some loads of recycling continue to be diverted to alternative facilities in Mitcham.

Veolia’s recycling and rubbish collection crews will be working hard to complete all scheduled rounds today as planned, but as a result of the fire at Beddington Lane some collections may be delayed. If your collection is not completed today, please leave your bins at the front of your property and Veolia will empty them as soon as possible.  We thank you for your patience and understanding.

Update 8.30am, 12 July 2019: Viridor have confirmed that the fire was extinguished yesterday evening (Thursday 11 July) and that London Fire Brigade had left the site by 8pm.  The area was monitored throughout the evening.  Viridor and the South London Waste Partnership would like to thank London Fire Brigade for its assistance.

Ends.