This will be converted into enough energy to power 80,000 hot showers or travel 84km on the Tube – four times the length of the Victoria line
The clean-up operation will involve 170 workers and 60 vehicles
Veolia is attempting to complete the clean-up in under 3 hours
Households along the Carnival route are being offered a free cleaning service to remove rubbish left in their front gardens or outside the basement
The Notting Hill Carnival is coming to London this bank holiday weekend, with more than a million people expected to attend Europe’s biggest street party on Sunday and Monday.
This year marks the first of a three-year celebration of 50 years of Carnival and is set to be bigger than ever.
That means a mammoth clean-up operation is in prospect, as Westminster City Council prepares to collect an estimated 200 tonnes of waste with 170 workers and 60 vehicles in action over the weekend.
The waste collected by Westminster’s cleaning teams will be converted into enough energy to power 80,000 hot showers or travel 84 km on the Tube.
Staff from Westminster Council’s contractor Veolia will be on the ground from 9pm on Sunday and Monday nights before the operation begins in earnest at 10pm. They are aiming to break the three hour barrier set last year in order to remove all the debris left behind in time for Tuesday morning.
Households along the Carnival route are also being offered a free front garden and basement cleaning service, which will start on Wednesday morning. In 2013 500 households registered for the service – a 20% increase on the year before – with more residents expected to sign up this year.
Cllr Ed Argar, Westminster City Council cabinet member for city management, transport and infrastructure, said: “As it celebrates its fiftieth birthday, we want everyone to enjoy Carnival while making sure the impact on our residents is minimised. It is inevitable, given the sheer size of the event, that some rubbish is left behind on pavements and in gardens. “Just as in previous years, once again our cleaning teams will be working tirelessly to restore the area to pristine condition for residents and businesses as quickly as possible, following what is one of the biggest parties in the world.”
Scott Edgell, Veolia's General Manager for Central London, said: “We're well used to dealing with cleaning up after large scale events in Westminster, from the London Marathon to New Year's Day Parade. But Carnival is particularly exciting, and challenging, given the sheer scale of the event in such a confined area.”
The Carnival is organised each year by the London Notting Hill Carnival Enterprises Trust Ltd (LNHCET), with support from Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
For more information on this year’s event – including road closures and parking suspensions – or to sign up for the free cleaning service, visit: https://www.westminster.gov.uk/notting-hill-carnival
Contacts
For more information please contact:
Dan Lester
Communications Manager
Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc.
Contract House
Ashley Road Depot
Tottenham
London N17 9AZ
Tel: +44(0)7920 295 715
E: [email protected]