Waste collection firm Envac has launched the UK’s first cardboard shredder in a housing development. It will process over 16 tonnes of cardboard every day at 2 000 homes in London’s Barking Riverside, one of Europe’s largest housing complexes.
The cardboard ‘super shredder’ is designed to shred packaging as large as TV boxes for up to 10 000 homes. The system processes three fractions: residual, cardboard and dry recyclables. Envac says 460 collection inlets replace 19 000 traditional bins.
It marks the first time that residential cardboard collection has been handled by vacuum waste collection in the UK. Large volumes of cardboard are ‘sucked’ through an underground pipe network from the shredder to the collection station. This takes less than 30 seconds.

Envac added the shredding solution to an existing system launched in late 2018. ‘The system has already had a transformational impact on residents’ recycling rates,’ according to the company. ‘At least 47% of all waste at Barking Riverside was recycled in 2023. This is higher than the London average of 12% for flats.’
Barking Riverside head of estates Sarah Phillips says the progressive approach could help further scale sustainable housing projects. ‘By being the first development in the UK to address cardboard waste using this technology at scale, we further reflect our progressive approach towards delivering sustainable and affordable homes in London.’
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