For our second Meet the Team, we interviewed Jacob Towl, Environmental Technician at the Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility.  

With around 40 employees here at the Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility, we wanted to spotlight members of the team and explore what they do. For our first edition, Mel de la Torre Zamora shares her experience of working on site.

The Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility has announced that applications for its 2023 Community Fund are now open. The Fund is made available annually and provides financial grants to support projects that have environmental, social and/or community benefits to local community groups and parish organisations from Hunts Grove, Hardwicke, Quedgeley, Brookthorpe-with-Whaddon, Haresfield, Harescombe, Standish, Moreton Valence and Whitminster.   

The Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility is set to host its next open day on Saturday 18th March 2023. Following the first two successful and fully booked events, the open day gives visitors the chance to learn about the energy from waste process, whilst also seeing, first-hand, the on-site plant and equipment.

On 22nd February 2023, the Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility will host a free papermaking workshop aimed at children aged 5-15 and their accompanying adults. The workshop will explore the different ways that paper can be recycled at home and used for craft activities. It also represents an opportunity to give old junk mail, bills, and other scrap paper a fun, new lease of life.

The Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility celebrated its three year anniversary at the end of October 2022. Since operations began in October 2019, the Facility has treated 564,896 tonnes of waste and exported 386,890 MWh of electricity to the National Grid. In addition, the Facility has recovered 127,297 tonnes of materials for recycling, which includes incinerator bottom ash (IBA), the collective name for ash and metals. 

This week, Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility announced the winner of its first ever art competition. Competition entrants were asked to create their own representation of the Facility, using their chosen artistic medium, including painting, drawing, sculpting, and collaging. Melanie Gibson from Standish came first with her painting of the site and she will have her work exhibited at the Facility’s Visitor Centre, and will receive an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the site.

The Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility will be hosting its next open day on Saturday, 12th November 2022. The first open day in March 2022 was a fully booked event and with a full programme of site visits scheduled for the foreseeable future, this open day presents a rare opportunity for those who are interested in discovering more about the Facility. Visitors will learn about the energy from waste process, as well as seeing first-hand the various on-site plant and equipment which is used to generate the equivalent electrical energy to power approximately 25,000 homes.

The Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility has launched its 2022 Annual Customer Satisfaction Survey. As with previous years, the survey allows residents, suppliers, visitors and Councillors, among others, an opportunity to offer feedback on their experience of the Facility and communications from the Facility and its employees. 

The Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility has announced that the next planned annual maintenance outage will take place from Saturday 13th August and will last approximately two weeks. During this period, the mechanical process will be shut down and regular day-to-day operations will cease, including visits to the site. The yearly outage allows for the inspection, maintenance and cleaning of equipment at the Facility, ensuring that ongoing operations continue to run efficiently and in accordance with the environmental requirements defined by the Environment Agency.

Today, (11th July, 2022) the Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility has announced its first-ever art competition, giving two winners, one under the age of 18 and one adult, in Gloucestershire the opportunity to win a behind-the-scenes tour of the site. The competition requires entrants to create a representation of the Facility through a medium of their choice, including painting, drawing, sculpting, collaging, etc. A selection of the best artwork, including the winners’ creations, will be displayed in an exhibition in the Facility’s Visitor Centre, which will be able to be viewed on site tours. 

The Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility held its first-ever open day on Saturday 26th March, 2022. Visitors to the site were able to learn about the energy from waste process and see first-hand how the Facility operates. Over 40 people attended and were given the opportunity to watch the official Facility film describing the on-site process, before having a tour of various operational areas where they could view, amongst other things, the waste cranes, combustion grate, and stack. 

Applications are now open for the 2022 Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility Community Fund. The Fund is made available annually, providing financial grants to support projects that have environmental, social and/or community benefits to the constituted community groups and parish organisations from Hunts Grove, Hardwicke, Quedgeley, Brookthorpe-with-Whaddon, Haresfield, Harescombe, Standish, Moreton Valence and Whitminster.   

Today, the Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility has announced that its first-ever open day will take place on Saturday 26th March 2022 at Javelin Park, giving attendees the chance to learn about what happens on-site and how it generates enough electricity to power the equivalent of around 25,000 homes across Gloucestershire. During the three one-hour sessions, taking place at 10 am, 11:30 am and 1 pm, visitors will be able to view the official Facility film, detailing the energy from waste process, as well as see first-hand the various plant and equipment on-site including, waste cranes, combustion grate and stack. Early pre-booking through the portal on the Site Tours and Visitor Centre page on the Facility’s website is recommended to avoid disappointment*.

The Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility has announced that it will reopen its Visitor Centre for new bookings in May 2022, subject to COVID-19 restrictions. Since July 2021, the Facility has prioritised rescheduled bookings for people who had their visits postponed due to the lockdowns. The Visitor Centre provides space for the local community to learn about sustainable waste management and resource use, with access to a working facility.

In June this year, the Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility welcomed a year 11 student from Denmark Road High School in Gloucester for a week's work experience. The student spent time in different parts of the Facility, including with the finance, health and safety, management and control room teams, to gain a holistic understanding of what is required to deliver a renewable energy scheme. She was also able to see the various plant and equipment in operation to discover how the Facility works.

Working with the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, the Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility has unveiled its Ecological Appraisal. The Wildlife Trust was commissioned to undertake the appraisal, providing an update of the species cohabiting the Facility’s boundaries to inform recommendations for further ecological enhancements to the area. This includes ways to inspire more protected species to access the site such as badgers, bats, birds and hedgehogs among others. 

The Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility has revealed new photos that have been displayed in their Javelin, Meteor and Typhoon meeting rooms. The Facility is located on the site of the former RAF Moreton Valence Airfield and these photographs show images of the historic aircrafts that were flown at the airfield from the 1950s and 60s. The collection features work from Russell Adam’s Jet Age Photography Collection entrusted to the Jet Age Museum, while others are from the Museum’s own collection. 

The Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility will have a planned maintenance outage for two weeks from 30th August to 13th September 2021. Across this time, the mechanical process will be shut down and regular operations will cease. The yearly outage allows the inspection, maintenance and cleaning of equipment at the Facility, to ensure that ongoing operations continue to run efficiently and in accordance with environmental requirements. 

The Gloucestershire Energy from Waste Facility has released its 2021 Annual Customer Satisfaction Survey. The survey allows local residents, suppliers, visitors and anyone with an interest the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience of the Facility and communications from Urbaser Balfour Beatty as the contractor.