2 groups of CircleUp participants visited the ERF at Ardley in July to find out more about what happens to general waste once its collected! 

What happens at the ERF? 

The ERF is making energy from waste by incinerating non-recyclable and non-food waste (so mostly everything from the general waste bin) and this is where most of the general waste in Oxfordshire ends up. The ERF produces energy to power 80,000 homes (so basically all of the Vale of White Horse district council area). 

This video gives a short insight into what goes on at the facility: Explore inside Viridor's Ardley Energy Recovery Facility or take a virtual tour of the process to see how the energy from waste process works. 

Jessica Baker-Pike, ERF Learning & Visitor Centre Manager - Key takeaways: 

Batteries & Electronics 

• Always make sure any items containing batteries (no matter how big or small) are not put in the general waste, or recycling bins.  

• In Wantage & Grove, batteries can be recycled on your usual recycling collection day.  Just pop them in a clear plastic bag (such as a sandwich bag or food bag) on top of your green recycling bin. 

• Putting a battery into the wrong bin can cause a real problem for collection and sorting crews, and processing operators such as the ERF as they very easily can catch on fire. If you want to learn more about this, you could listen to this podcast: Battery fires – a growing problem within recycling 

• You can often return batteries to shops that produce and sell them, you can check this here Batteries | Recycle Now  
• If you are unsure about what to do with an item, can it be recycled or where should it go at the end of its life? Use the Waste Wizard to find out