Westminster City Council

There were an estimated 55 tones of rubbish collected this year after London’s Pride parade.

While that rubbish could have gone to a landfill, instead it was used to help power Britain.

Veolia, the company behind the clean-up after the parade, collected the 55 tonnes of rubbish and brought it to the SELCHP Energy Recovery Facility. The rubbish was used to create enough energy to power 170,000 televisions to watch the full parade.

London’s Pride parade is one of the biggest events in the calendar for LGBT+ people in the capital city, however the huge amounts of rubbish left behind results in an massive clean-up.

This year, the items left behind included rainbow flags, flyers, costume leftovers, glass bottles and food containers.

Instead of going to a landfill, the rubbish was collected to help harness more energy.

The parade dazzled thousands of people along Westminster and ended with a party in Trafalgar Square. Veolia managed the clean-up on behalf of Westminster City Council, and left the streets clean once the parade was over.

Pedro Ferreira, Street Cleansing Foreman at Veolia, said they have found “everything you can think of” after Pride over the years.

Some of the items uncovered in the clean-up include unicorn costumes, wedding veils, glitter wands and balloons.

“It’s all evidence that the Pride paraders know how to have a good time,” he said. “We love doing the clear up. It’s one of the most fun events of the year.”

The clean-up took the efforts of more than 20 vehicles and 100 members of staff.

Helder Branco, Senior Contract Manager for Veolia in Westminster, said that the use of the rubbish for energy recovery was “another reason for parade-goers to celebrate.”

Councillor Tim Mitchell, Cabinet Member for Environment and City Management, praised the cleaners who helped bring London’s streets back up to scratch after the parade.

“It is Westminster’s honour to host so many great events and celebrations, such as London Pride,” he added.

500 LGBT+ groups marched in Saturday’s parade, with hundreds of thousands lining the streets for the annual event. An estimated 30,000 people marched in the parade.