Milton Keynes Council LED street lights helps reduce carbon footprint

The Council's Highways team has reduced its carbon footprint and saved energy through changing street lights to LEDs.
News. Photo: ShutterstockNews. Photo: Shutterstock
News. Photo: Shutterstock

Working with its service provider Ringway, the energy consumption by street lights has been reduced and old materials were recycled back into the industry.

Over the last year the following savings have been made:

150,000 Kilowatt hours of energy savings - this is equals to what 235 three-bed households would use in a year!

578 tonnes of carbon saved

18 tonnes of glass and steel recycled back into the industry (from lamps that were removed)

12 tonnes of lanterns (since August) recycled back into the industry

The old style lanterns inside street lights will be going out of production in the next few years so the installation of the new LED lights could not have come at a better time.

It costs around £500 to upgrade an old lantern to new LED including parts and labour with another £500 required to replace the column if needed.

This cost is the same whether this is an LED or old style lantern, but the LED offers much lower energy, reduced carbon and much lower maintenance.

This cost is the same whether this is an LED or old style lantern, but the LED offers much lower energy, reduced carbon and much lower maintenance. An LED lantern burns eight times longer than the old lamps, which burn out after 12,000 hours. It’s estimated the new LED lamps could last up to 22 years.

“The Highways budget has been squeezed significantly over recent years and efficiency savings that can also reduce our carbon footprint are a double bonus,” said councillor Martin Gowans, cabinet member for public realm.

“By making these savings means we can allocate budget into other repairs such as fixing potholes.”

Related topics: