Our planet

In summer 2023, we unveiled our new electric waste collection vehicles (EVs) – achieving what at the time was an industry-first, by powering one directly by electricity generated from the customer waste we collect.

Our Colnbrook depot is now home to two LGV EVs which, after depositing the non-recyclable waste from their daily collection rounds into our Energy from Waste (EfW) facility, simply plug in to the EfW to recharge ready for the next day.

For every tonne of waste deposited, around 620kWh of power is generated and, given that each collection is around five tonnes of waste per round, it means each vehicle delivers enough fuel to generate 3,100kWh of energy per day. That’s enough to power an average-sized house for a year, as well as charging the vehicles themselves.

We now have a total of six LGV EVs across our operating area and we’re investing around £6.5 million a year to further decarbonise our vehicle fleet so we can deliver ever more sustainable waste collections for our customers.

At our headquarters in Benson, Oxfordshire, we’ve installed a 100kw solar panel system.

During the summer months, the system supplies 100% of the energy required for the majority of the working day – this includes powering the office and charging EVs!

Across the entire year, the system is capable of providing around a third of the office’s energy consumption – and even more if the sun keeps shining!

Within the first few months, these roof-mounted solar photovoltaic panels delivered a remarkable 20-30% reduction in our normal energy grid consumption.

Periodically, we expect to generate enough energy for our HQ to be self-sufficient and be able to export excess electricity to the National Grid.

Grundon invested £2.5m in a private wire from Lakeside Energy from Waste facility to create a fully electrified treatment process for refuse derived fuel (RDF). The new infrastructure is expected to save over 700 tonnes of CO2e emissions per year.

In 2023, Grundon committed to supplying 100,000 tonnes per year of RDF to a local Energy from Waste facility, allowing it to be diverted from landfill.

Conventionally, the treatment of waste into a suitable fuel is carried out using diesel powered equipment, however, this was identified as a significant decarbonisation opportunity.

With limited grid capacity available, Grundon invested in a private wire and an electrified treatment process, which ensures that the whole waste-fuel treatment process is itself powered by energy derived from waste.

The new infrastructure is not only expected to deliver significant carbon savings, but it has also enabled future decarbonisation projects on site.

This year, Grundon is celebrating 10 years of its CarbonNeutral® fleet certification programme.

Over the last decade, our commercial fleet, as well as company cars and vans, have travelled over 61 million miles, enabling us to offset the equivalent of over 115,000 tonnes of carbon and help make a real difference to communities around the world.

Our carbon offsetting programme has helped support communities
around the world, from Guatemala and India, to Uganda and Kenya. We’ve helped deliver community reforestation and water infrastructure programmes, focused on renewable energy projects and enabled skills training for local people.

Across Uganda, Kenya and India, over 75,000 efficient cookstoves have been delivered to the heart of communities, helping improve the wellbeing of families and reducing indoor pollution.

And in Guatemala, we’ve enabled the installation of 16 wind turbines, generating over 700,000 MWh of clean energy for the grid.