gmb Reveals Leaked Email Proving Veolia Divert Recycling to Incinerator as Recycle Rates Plummet in Sheffield

Steel City residents are being misled as to where their recycling is going – and that’s a scandal says union

GMB has been shown an email revealing Veolia bosses are diverting recycling to their incinerator as Sheffield’s recycling rate plummets. The city’s waste management contractor appears to have made the decision in 2011 to divert recyclable waste from the household waste recycle centres to their own Energy From Waste (EFR) incinerator. Veolia’s contract with Sheffield City Council, as well as Environment Agency regulations, demands the company performs as much recycling as can be reasonably achieved.

The incinerator has previously struggled to get fuel to provide the company’s commitment to provide district heating for the city. GMB members working at Veolia’s recycling plant receive a bonus payment if they meet their recycling targets – something they have struggled to do in recent years due to the lack of provision of recyclable waste. It now looks as if this is nothing to do with a lack of residents’ recycling – but a deliberate policy from Veolia. Despite various information and data requests, GMB has not received adequate waste flow information from Sheffield City Council or Veolia.

Following the leaked email, GMB has written an open letter to Veolia. Lee Parkinson, GMB Organiser, said: “We accept we have to burn waste in the incinerator, indeed it’s our own members who work on that operation and it’s a good model for the city.

“But these increasing diversions are coming from the household recycle sites and that is always going have a negative impact on recycling in Sheffield."

Peter Davies, Senior Organiser, added: “We have long said this contract is in a mess and this latest leak makes our members task of increasing those recycle rates look almost impossible.

“The people of Sheffield need to know when they bring their waste it is recycled in the main - not deliberately diverted and burned to boost Veolia’s profits. “Veolia appear to be burning things that could be recycled – adding to pollution and avoiding paying our members any bonus at the same time.

“We call on Sheffield City Council to be transparent about the recycling requirements in the contract with Veolia. “This isn’t just the waste that’s going up in smoke, it’s our members’ pay with it and we will now challenge that. “The good people of Sheffield and our own members who carry out their recycling have no real control over recycling in this city and that is a scandal. “Veolia and the Council need to sort this obvious conflict of interest out and sort it now.”