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Wednesday 10 Sep 2025

Zero to Landfill initiative at Bristol Temple Meads provides passengers with an easy way to dispose of food waste and travel sustainably

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Passengers at Bristol Temple Meads can now use dedicated bins for food waste, separating it from general rubbish and recyclable items like plastic bottles and cardboard, which will boost recycling rates and cut down on the amount of waste going to landfill sites.

Segregating food waste means that items placed in the recycling bin will remain clean and free of contamination, which can sometimes result in batches of dry recyclables being rejected. Dedicated food waste collection also means that fewer items will end up in landfill sites, helping to reduce greenhouse gases and enabling more sustainable methods of processing waste.

The new bins can be found in the station’s subway, framed by a colourful wall design highlighting the station’s Zero to Landfill initiative. It is hoped that the prominent location of the new bins will encourage passengers to use the new facilities and increase awareness of more sustainable habits, while helping to keep the station clean and welcoming.

Using the bins inside the station can also help passengers to avoid receiving a fixed penalty notice from the Council, which can fine people who drop litter outside the station.

Gabriella Colwell, Network Rail’s station delivery manager at Bristol Temple Meads, said: “We have installed a recycling station at Bristol Temple Meads in the passenger subway which has three designated bins to separate food waste, dry mixed recycling, and general waste.

“We want to encourage passengers to keep the station clean and tidy but also provide them with the facility of segregating their waste much like they would do at home.

“This initiative helps Network Rail implement best practice when it comes to sustainability, supports the station achieving a goal of removing zero waste to landfill, and complies with the Government’s simpler recycling legislation.”

In another sustainability boost at the station, Network Rail has teamed up with environmental charity City to Sea to provide free water refills in the subway, encouraging passengers to ditch single-use plastic and refill their bottles on the go. The first-of-its-kind collaboration has seen the installation of prominent refill stations, station-wide signage, digital screens, and in-app integration through City to Sea’s Refill app. Together, the two water refill points have saved over 200,000 plastic bottles from ending up as waste.

Rail is already one of the greenest forms of transport and small changes like segregating food waste and providing free water refills can have a big impact as Network Rail seeks to run a net-zero carbon emissions railway by 2050.