New 'greenways' to be built on grid roads in Milton Keynes to help save the environment

Milton Keynes is already famous for its redways, but now it’s set to sport greenways
How the greenways will lookHow the greenways will look
How the greenways will look

The bright green ‘recycle lanes’ will be built at the side of grid roads to take vehicles powered by biofuels and other waste products.

They will also be used by waste lorries to enable them reach MK’s recycling factory faster and stop valuable waste ‘spoiling’.

Announcing the plans today (Monday April 1), MK Council’s energy manager Angie Ford said: “Vehicles running on waste are increasing in number every year. Think of Dr Emmett Brown’s ‘Mr Fusion’ DeLorean from Back to the Future as inspiration, but in fact all sorts of waste products - from vegetable oil to algae - can be used as fuel in the right vehicles.”

How the greenways will lookHow the greenways will look
How the greenways will look

She added: “MK has always been a place where new technologies are welcomed and we hope the new measures will encourage an even greater uptake of clean vehicles.”

The dedicated lanes can be used by any car, van, or heavy goods vehicle that can demonstrate a reliance on biofuel or clean energy.

But the most regular users will be the Serco rubbish collection lorries, which make take non-recyclable waste from black sacks to be converted into energy at the council’s state of the art processing facility in Old Wolverton.

The less time it takes to get waste to the plant, the ‘fresher’ it is and the more energy can be created. For very hour of delay, 100 Kwh per tonne less energy can be produced from each lorry load – enough to power an average UK home for ten days.