Facilities Team Tours Veolia’s Energy Recovery Facility

East Sussex College's Facilities Team Managers, along with Vicki Orbell, Head of Business Development, recently visited Veolia's Newhaven Energy Recovery Facility to learn how the College’s non-recyclable waste is managed and converted into energy.

The Newhaven Energy Recovery Facility processes approximately 210,000 tonnes of household waste annually—about half the waste from the South Downs area. This waste, unsuitable for recycling, is transformed into over 19 megawatts of electrical energy, enough to power 25,000 homes, with the electricity supplied to the National Grid.

Sam Allen, Facilities Team Manager at the College’s Eastbourne campus, said, "As a college, we must continue to do as much as we can to recycle and avoid sending rubbish to landfill. However, the ERF does amazing work to significantly reduce the environmental impact of our non-recyclable waste."

Veolia also highlighted the dangers of improper disposal of lithium-based products, such as batteries and vapes, which pose risks to their staff. East Sussex College now has dedicated vape disposal units available across all sites to ensure students and staff can dispose of them safely