ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

A total of 170 street cleaners and waste management staff were deployed to clean up after London's Notting Hill carnival at the weekend.

In an efficient seven-hour operation around 200 tonnes of waste was removed from the carnival route. Discarded items included papier mâché dragons, inflatable palm trees and broken samba drums as well as plastic bags, plastic bottles, feathered headdresses, Caribbean flags and coconuts.

This year marked the Notting Hill Carnival's 50th anniversary and an estimated two million party-goers showed up to join in the world's second largest carnival, an event that is 11 times bigger than Glastonbury Festival.

As part of its contract with Westminster City Council, waste management company Veolia provided the team of cleaners along with 60 waste vehicles including refuse trucks and mechanical sweepers. Crews were split into 15 teams and were spread out along the carnival's 3.5 mile-long route in order to optimise speed and efficiency.

The crews started work minutes after the festival closed and were in action for three hours on Sunday and four hours on Monday. After the waste collection and separation phase, all remaining waste will be converted into green energy. It is expected to generate around 97,200kWh of electricity and 19,600kWh of heat for homes around London.

The world's biggest carnival takes place in Rio de Janeiro Carnival before Lent each year with two million people taking part every day. The Rio festival dates back to 1723 whereas the first Notting Hill Carnival only took place as recently as 1966.