Environmental impacts » Case study » Waste

Making scrap pay

Northfields comes clean

A backlog of contractors’ waste at Northfields depot was cleared by 20 Tube Lines volunteers in July 2006 and new flowering shrubs were planted at the entrance to create a much brighter welcome. Following the clean-up, new procedures have been established to keep the site clean and tidy. Nearly 20 tonnes of waste – a mixture of construction and demolition waste and discarded equipment – was removed from the site and over half of this was recycled. “Tighter controls have now been introduced for contractors using the site to make sure that rubbish does not build up again,” says Mark Wallbridge, HS&E Adviser. “Depot managers carry out regular inspections and we make it clear to everyone that, if they bring waste in, they are responsible for removing it, too – and recycling it where possible.”

Scrap rail, previously left alongside the tracks, has been successfully removed and recycled on a trial stretch of the Northern line – and the cash raised from recycling has paid for the cost of hiring specialist machinery needed to do the job.

“We hired a road-railer to clear approximately 170 tonnes over 1,800m of track in ten days between East Finchley and Finchley Central,” says acting Chargehand Tony Kingsmill. “Because the road-railer can be used both on and off the track, the need for manual handling of the track is eliminated.”

“The next step will be to use a rail cropper to snap the rail into manageable sections. This was trialled in 2006 and has gained approval for use in further scrap clearance in 2007. As well as being efficient, it will reduce costs significantly, as this work was previously done by a gang of about seven people. The rail cropper needs just one operator plus a train master, supervised by the person in charge of the site.

"The aim is to clear the whole open section of track of scrap, and to make this work self-financing."