New facility to house city’s refuse and street cleansing services

A newly opened property in Leeds will provide a modern, future proofed operational base for the city’s refuse and street cleaning service, the second largest council run refuse service in the UK.

Newmarket House was formally launched this week by Councillor James Lewis, leader of Leeds City Council.

Uniting the city’s refuse service under one roof, the facility will be home to around 130 vehicles and the front-line staff that empty the city’s bins and keep streets and neighbourhoods clean.

Newmarket house is next to the Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility (RERF), and will enable the council to design and operate more efficient collection routes, driving down costs as well as the carbon footprint of household waste in Leeds.

The facility’s infrastructure has also been designed to allow for adaptation of green fuelling options for refuse wagons as technology and fuels change, with an initial 20 electric charging points being installed for refuse wagons and a further 22 charging points for the services fleet of vans.

Newmarket House has been delivered by Leeds City Council and KIER group.

Cllr Mohammed Rafique, executive member for environment and housing, said: “It is fantastic that we are able to celebrate the opening of Newmarket House, and the depot facilities that will make a significant difference to the city’s environmental services.

“The service works around the clock to deliver for the people of Leeds so it is fantastic that we can deliver a brand-new depot to help ensure the service can continue to do so in the future.

“The council recognises the importance of meeting the climate emergency head on and Newmarket House is a great example of the public sector’s ability to lead the way.

“Throughout the depot there are innovative solutions to reducing our carbon footprint and the site sets the foundation for expanding the electrification of our fleet.”

Dan Doherty, regional director for Kier Construction North & Scotland said: “We’re incredibly proud to have built one of the ‘greenest buildings in Leeds’.

“Working with our supply chain, our team has made every effort to construct Newmarket House in a sustainable manner, from crushing and recycling concrete on site, to minimising waste to landfill, to replacing diesel in the machines with HVO fuel, the team identified numerous opportunities for reducing CO2 emissions and our carbon footprint.”