The leafing season is in full swing, and Westminster Council is hiring extra temporary staff to deal with the huge amount of leaves we have to clear from the city’s 19,000 trees. We anticipate gathering approximately 1,000 tonnes of leaves, equivalent to around 200,000 bags, this autumn. This quantity is comparable to the weight of six London underground trains, or 80 double decker buses.
Due to the presence of heavy metals resulting from traffic pollution, leaves collected in the city cannot be used for composting. Instead, they are used to contribute to generating energy for heating homes. Approximately 1,000 tonnes of leaves can generate 530,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough to power an estimated five million hours of television or boil 5.3 million kettles.
We are employing 11 additional agency staff and utilizing two extra collection vehicles. Manual street cleansing teams are work closely with the council’s new electric gully trucks to prevent leaves from obstructing drains and potentially causing floods.