The Green Block’s MSU manually segregates waste on site into recycling streams whilst capturing accurate and digital data, once rubbish from trains, public bins and retailers in stations has been collected.
Network Rail has been trialling the unit at London Victoria station since 2020 and has seen 7,000 tonnes of waste recycled each month.
The two new MSUs will be located at London Bridge and London Waterloo stations.
Network Rail said that it estimated that 1,500 coffee cups will be segregated, baled and recycled per day across the three stations.
Karin Skelton, Network Rail’s sustainability programme manager, said: “We run almost a third of Britain’s rail services in the Southern Region – that’s 700 million passenger journeys every year, each one with their own individual story, each one relying on us.
“We’ve got a fantastic opportunity to do our job in a way that minimises our impact on the environment, and we’re absolutely committed to being cleaner, greener and more socially responsible.
“We produce thousands of tonnes of waste every year at our big London stations, so The Green Block partnership means we’ve been able to significantly improve our recycling rates to over 90%. But we’re committed to doing even more and are aiming to reach 95%, as well as eradicating the waste we send to landfill. The best thing about this project is that our passengers don’t need to change a thing.”
This National Recycling Week (14 to 18 October 2024), Network Rail has also installed 60 new 1,100-litre bins at London Victoria station which all have a QR code for passengers to follow the journey of their coffee cup as it is recycled.
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