7 North London councils are set to share in a windfall dividend worth £10.2 million, following on from a previous dividend of £4.75 million in November from North London Waste Authority (NLWA).
NLWA oversees the energy-from-waste (EfW) facility in Edmonton and says the windfall is due to extra income received from electricity generation.
Since 1971, the Edmonton facility has used household bin-bag waste to generate electricity for the National Grid instead of sending it to landfill, with income from energy generation offset against the cost of waste disposal for council taxpayers, NLWA says.
Due to price rises in global energy supply markets, the facility like all other energy generators saw its income rise dramatically in 2022. The sale of recycling collected across north London has also increased NLWA’s income, it says, due to strong market demand for recycled commodities.
NLWA Members approved issuing the windfall to the boroughs at an Authority meeting today, 9 February 2023.
Rather than windfall profits going to private shareholders, NLWA can ensure that local people and communities can benefit instead.
Across the 2023-24 financial year, NLWA says it will reduce the monthly cost of waste disposal and recycling that the councils usually pay, which will mean that the boroughs will have more money for “essential services and initiatives” to support their residents.
NLWA would also like to see publicly owned EfW facilities excluded from the tax.
Commenting on the dividend, NLWA Chair, Cllr Clyde Loakes, said: “While we all want to see energy prices normalise, in these exceptional times, rather than windfall profits going to private shareholders, NLWA can ensure that local people and communities can benefit instead.
“It also shows that having a wholly publicly owned, well-managed facility is far preferable to paying vast sums to a private contractor to dispose of household waste.
“And that’s why NLWA is now overseeing the building of a replacement facility, an advanced, high-tech Energy Recovery Facility so that the public can continue to benefit from public ownership in the long term.”
