Viridor, which operates the energy recovery facility (ERF) in Runcorn, has announced that it has contributed nearly £1 million to the Halton Borough Council Environmental Fund during 2023/24.
This £985,449 boost brings the fund’s total to date to nearly £7 million, with all funding coming directly from the ERF, and will enable Halton Borough Council to continue supporting community projects across the borough into 2025 and beyond.
This community-focused fund was set up by Halton Borough Council, which is responsible for determining how the fund is allocated, and went live in 2015 with Viridor making significant contributions each year. Since then, 60 different projects have all now received grants from this fund to help physically and visually improve the borough in numerous locations.
This latest tranche of financial support from Viridor will now continue to enable Halton Borough Council to encourage and facilitate the increased use of these improved community spaces by local people.
In some cases, the Environmental Fund has been used in recent years to provide vital match funding that tops up grants from other sources. This proved the case for the Runcorn Hill Park project, where monies from the Heritage Lottery Fund were boosted by £160,000 from the Environmental Fund, enabling the completion of work to improve the boating lake, park and café. It also funded improvements to the historic ‘Happy Valley’ tunnels beneath the park that were once used as an air raid shelter. Separately, a further grant of more than £7,000 has since been used to create and improve the trail running circuit at the park.
Another example of funding from Viridor being used by Halton Borough Council’s Environmental Fund to supplement other third-party funding came via the Beechwood Playground Project, where more than £37,000 of funding from Viridor was used to complete the £67,0000 funding package for the new playground aimed at children between the ages of 2 and 10.
The completion of this project proved a particular boost for the local community due to there previously not being any other playground facilities within 2km of the new facility.
Runcorn Town Park – the largest park in the borough – has also seen huge improvements thanks to the availability of Viridor’s Environmental Fund. A five-year project costing £350,000 has seen gradual but significant improvements to the park including the recruitment of two members of staff and the purchase of a new maintenance vehicle.
This funding was key in directly unlocking further improvement works at the site too, where a further grant of £209,000 from the Environmental Fund was used to improve the footpaths, enhance drainage, install new seating and carry out landscaping works.
And in addition to improving public spaces, the Environmental Fund has been used by Halton Borough Council to clean and repair three war memorials across the borough, with nearly £50,000 being added by the Fund to top up a £12,000 grant from the War Memorials Trust. With masonry repaired and inscriptions restored, the memorials have now been preserved for future generations.
Darren Bolton, Plant Manager at Viridor Runcorn’s ERF, commented: “Viridor is very proud to have contributed another million pounds to the Environmental Fund this year and we’re always pleased to see the positive impact this fund continues to provide to our local community. It’s exciting to know that new projects are applying for funding and that, thanks to Viridor, there’s now even more money there to support those projects. We look forward to seeing the great projects that Halton Borough Council will be able to support in 2025.”
Cllr Mike Wharton, Leader of Halton Borough Council, added: “We are grateful for the continuing and significant contributions Viridor makes to the Environmental Fund. The fund has seen nearly £7 million pass through it over the course of the last ten years which has allowed us to keep improving our local area for the benefit of the community. This latest contribution will see the fund move into 2025 in a strong position so that Halton Borough Council can continue supporting the vital projects that contribute to historical, social, environmental and educational improvements across our borough.”
The Environmental Fund is just one way in which Viridor invests in the communities within which it operates, with its We Share Community Fund representing further annual grants totalling up to £300,000 nationally for projects promoting community, involvement, education and sustainability.
For more information on Viridor’s work in Runcorn, please see here: https://www.viridor.co.uk/energy/energy-recovery-facilities/runcorn-erf/
ENDS
About Viridor Runcorn ERF
Viridor’s Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) facility at Runcorn has been operational since 2014 and is one of the largest EfW facilities in the world. Treating almost a million tonnes of non-recyclable waste per annum, which arrives by both rail and road, the facility generates enough electricity to power the equivalent of 154,500+ homes.
Viridor Runcorn ERF has moved a step closer to making the UK’s first negative emissions project a reality, by agreeing a statement of principles with the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Viridor will now enter final negotiations with DESNZ to conclude a Waste Industrial Carbon Capture contract, which could secure Government support alongside Viridor’s own investment to make the Runcorn Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) project a reality.
The project will begin in 2025 and kick start a world leading carbon capture industry in the UK. This £0.5 billion investment will allow Viridor Runcorn to capture c.0.9 million tonnes of CO2 a year, which will be fed into the North West’s HyNet ICC cluster and locked away in perpetuity under the sea in Liverpool Bay.
This project will be essential to meeting the UK’s 2050 Net Zero target and will support the UK’s global climate commitments.