Around 600 people came along to experience a fun family day out at Southwark’s recycling and waste management facility, run by Veolia in partnership with Southwark Council.
The event, which took place as part of Open House Weekend invited visitors to take a tour inside the facility to learn all about how recyclables are sorted and the innovative way that Veolia deals with black bag waste at its first Mechanical Biological Treatment Facility in the UK.
Other attractions included a display of the vehicles used onsite, with a JCB that children could get inside and control, there was also a robot made out of recycling bins, a junk orchestra (pictured), a recycling bales display and the interactive Recycling Discovery Centre welcomed children and adults to learn about recycling materials and where they come from.
As part of the day everyone was given the opportunity to win a day trip to Paris for two and have lunch at the Eiffel Tower, this raised over £250 for children’s charity Evelina.
Fabrice Bouchon, General Manager for Veolia Southwark said: “Another fantastic Wonder Day. It was great to be able to arrange 27 tours throughout the day to show over 500 people how the facility works and what happens to their waste.”
Feedback from visitors of the event included, David Warwick from SE23 who stated “(He) enjoyed a really nice morning being shown around the sorting areas. All the staff were very welcoming and informative. The whole visitor experience was very well thought through and well organised, very impressed!”
Anna Fairclough from SE7 said “The kids look forward to coming to the recycling centre every year! This is our second visit and it’s even better this year.”
For people who missed the Wonder Day, Veolia will be hosting some extra one-off tours of the facility in the coming months. Please email [email protected] for further information.