Leeds named Green Council of the Year with prestigious award success

Leeds City Council has officially been named as Green Council of the Year after winning the title at the prestigious Political Purpose Awards this week.

The council was presented with the award by the Nature 2030 campaign, which aims to recognise and promote efforts to tackle climate change through positive environmental and sustainability activities.

The Green Council of the Year award, sponsored by Keep Britain Tidy, recognises councils that have ‘demonstrated exceptional leadership in protecting and enhancing the local environment or that have developed the most ambitious packages of local environmental measures.’

Leeds was nominated for the award for its ongoing response to declaring a climate emergency in 2019, informed by a public conversation to set the ambition to become a net zero carbon city. A range of initiatives and service improvements across the council were highlighted for their positive environmental contributions to the city.

In presenting the award to Leeds on behalf of the judging panel, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy, highlighted the council’s progress in electrifying its vehicle fleet,  the carbon benefits of the innovative Leeds PIPES energy from waste district heating scheme, and reserved particular praise for the reduction in the amount of household waste that ends up in landfill, from 26 per cent ten years ago to less than 0.2 per cent today.

The award also recognises a range of interventions and activities demonstrating how the council is successfully embedding environmental change and improvements into how it operates.

These have included almost a quarter of council vehicles having been transitioned to electric vehicles such as electric bin wagons which can be recharged from 20 to 80 per cent in 75 minutes. Securing funding of £2.5million from developers to deliver the planting of woodlands and wildflower meadows, litter and fly-tipping removal and providing information boards to sites across the city.

The Leeds PIPES district heating network was also a focus in terms of improved energy efficiency, with the network now providing low-carbon, affordable and reliable heat and hot water to more than 60 buildings across the city using heat from the Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility (RERF).

The council has also helped to reducing the carbon footprint of 250 homes by providing Home Upgrade Grants. These grants provide a range of energy efficiency upgrades and low-carbon heating to low-income households using measures such as heat pumps, solar power, insulation, and low-energy lighting.

In transport, the East Leeds Orbital Route (ELOR) was praised for incorporating sustainability into a new seven kilometre stretch of road, featuring fully segregated facilities for non-motorised road users including cycle and bridal paths. It also incorporates sustainable drainage and more than 30,000 trees for biodiversity and habitat growth.

The council’s waste management service was also praised for its improved recycling offer and reducing use of landfill. Leeds provides the second-largest kerbside collection service of any council in the UK, emptying over 500,000 bins a week from 367,000 households. The continued investment in a free garden waste collection means overall it is the largest service in the UK. Leeds has met the government’s Simpler Recycling requirements for dry recycling two years ahead of schedule; with a resident and street friendly three-bin strategy that a year ago saw the introduction of glass as a further material that can be put in the Leeds green recycling bin,  adding to the existing range of materials such as paper, card, plastic, plastic film and bags, foil and metal.

A range of measures and a progressive approach to the procurement and renewal of waste disposal contracts, for example changing the processing and destination of waste streams like large electricals and offensive waste, has helped reduce landfill to just 0.2 per cent currently in Leeds. Importantly no food waste from Leeds households goes to landfill, where it would create methane emissions and harmful leachate.

Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor James Lewis said:

"We are deeply honoured to receive this prestigious recognition of our council's dedicated work and leadership towards creating a healthier and more sustainable Leeds.

“Our comprehensive low-carbon initiatives and innovative waste management solutions are creating tangible benefits for all residents, making Leeds a greener, cleaner and healthier place to live for current and future generations.

“We are particularly proud to see the Leeds recognised for achieving a near-zero landfill rate for our city’s household waste, together with the progress made to electrify our fleet and deliver an extensive energy recovery heating network that provides lower carbon heating to buildings across the city.”

Leeds City Council’s executive member for climate, energy, environment and green space Councillor Mohammed Rafique said:

“We are delighted to be named Green Council of the Year, which is a wonderful reflection of the dedicated work being carried out across the council and our partners as well as our residents and businesses in Leeds for supporting our efforts to be as environmentally sustainable as possible.

“The impact of climate change affects us all, so this really is an ongoing ‘Team Leeds’ challenge as we strive to become a net zero carbon city.”

ENDS

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