At National Grid Worcester Depot, we replace around 1,000 wooden electricity poles each year. In my role as Operations Manager at National Grid Electricity Distribution, I see the work that goes into keeping that programme moving. I’m Paul Brothwood, and one of the ideas I am helping explore through the Sustainability Leadership Alliance is whether plastic waste from our own operations could become a material for the poles we need.
Getting hands-on with wooden electricity poles. Through the Sustainability Leadership Alliance, we are exploring whether recycled plastic could provide an additional source of poles for the future.
It starts with a practical problem. Suitable wooden poles are becoming harder to secure, and replacing them is a continuing part of maintaining the network. Each job depends on having the right materials available, alongside the people, equipment and planning needed to complete the work safely.
The timescales behind a wooden pole are striking. UK Power Networks describes suitable slow grown pole timber as taking around 120 years to grow. That figure varies with the timber and its source, but it shows why planting more trees does not provide a quick response to pressure on supply. Industry sources describe treated pole service life as around 45 to 60 years, depending on the material, treatment and conditions. A pole represents a considerable investment of time before it reaches our network.
Worcester is one part of a much larger requirement. NGED’s published Active Creosote Extraction project recorded around 27,000 pole replacements annually across its four licence areas. That is a historic project figure, rather than a current annual total, but it gives a sense of the scale. An additional source of suitable poles would have relevance well beyond one depot.
Through the Sustainability Leadership Alliance, our work is about bringing people and ideas together to find smarter solutions. For me, that means making space for conversations between those who understand an operational problem and those with the knowledge to approach it differently. Our work with Circular11 is an example of where those conversations lead.
Circular11 turns plastic waste into materials used in products such as fencing, furniture and landscaping. We are exploring whether its experience could be applied to an electricity pole, using suitable plastic waste generated by NGED. There is something particularly useful about investigating a material we already handle as waste against a product we repeatedly need to buy.
The proposal is still at the feasibility stage. Circular11 would submit the funding application, and I have prepared a supporting paper explaining the operational need and the reasons for investigating the idea. The aim is to develop a model pole and test whether the material and manufacturing approach deserve further development. Progress towards full-size prototypes would depend on the early results.
An electricity pole has to do far more than hold its shape on the day it is made. It carries loads over many years, stands in changing ground and weather conditions, and supports fittings that engineers need to install and maintain. A recycled plastic design would need to demonstrate strength, stiffness and consistency, as well as suitable behaviour under sustained loading, temperature changes, moisture and electrical exposure.
The people doing the work would have an important part in assessing it. Transporting, lifting and planting a pole all place demands on the material. Access, inspection and rescue arrangements also need consideration. The experience of our depot teams would help establish whether a promising design is practical to use. Any eventual network trial would follow the required engineering and safety approvals.
We also need to understand the waste itself. Different plastics behave differently, and contamination or changes between batches could affect the finished product. Establishing which materials are suitable, how much is available and what preparation they need would be part of the investigation. The ambition is to create a dependable material with a traceable source.
The environmental benefit needs evidence too. Recycled content alone does not prove that a product has a lower impact than timber. Collection, processing, manufacturing energy, transport and service life all matter. So does the ability to recover or recycle the pole at the end of its use. A proper comparison would tell us whether this approach delivers the benefits we hope for.
The same applies to cost. We would need to understand the expense of manufacturing and installing the pole, alongside inspection, maintenance and eventual replacement. Those findings would help determine whether the idea offers a realistic additional supply route for network operators.
What interests me most is the connection between everyday operations and the opportunity to do something differently. A recurring need at a depot has led to a discussion about materials, waste and manufacturing with people outside our usual supply chain. The SLA provides a way to bring those contributions together and give the idea a fair test.
There is work ahead before anyone knows whether NGED plastic waste is suitable for electricity poles. Building and testing a prototype would give us something concrete to learn from. That is the next step I want to help move forward with Circular11.
About the author
Paul Brothwood is an Operations Manager at National Grid Electricity Distribution’s Worcester Depot, a chartered environmentalist and co-chair of the Sustainability Leadership Alliance. He writes about leadership, operational improvement and practical sustainability.
Sources and further reading
UK Power Networks, Engineered Pole Products
National Grid Electricity Distribution, Active Creosote Extraction
Energy Networks Association, alternative wood pole preservatives research
Energy Innovation Centre, Creosote Alternatives for Overhead Poles
Circular11
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