Millions in bumper profits from the Edmonton Incinerator are set to be handed back to the London councils whose rubbish it burns.

The incinerator, which burns rubbish from Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington and Waltham Forest to produce electricity, is run by the North London Waste Authority (NLWA).

This year, the NLWA was set to charge the councils a £57 million levy to cover the costs of processing their waste but plans to waive November’s £4.7m charge thanks to the soaring cost of electricity.

The authority says its “windfall dividend” for the councils that own it is also thanks to “strong market demand” for recycling waste it collects, such as aluminium and plastic.

Waltham Forest deputy leader and NLWA chair Clyde Loakes said: “During this extreme cost-of-living crisis and rising inflation, we’ve decided to act now to return this money to the public by helping to ease the monetary pressures on their councils and services.

“Wholesale energy prices are expected to remain high over the winter, and if that is the case there will be further ‘windfall dividends’ to come.

“This shows that the public ownership of utilities can bring direct benefits to communities, instead of just the shareholders of the big energy companies.”

Announcing the decision at Waltham Forest’s full council meeting last Thursday, Cllr Loakes said £500,000 of the £841,000 his council will gain will go towards “small-scale energy saving measures and retrofitting households”.

Local community groups will be handed £240,000 to help with the cost-of-living crisis and £120,000 for “hyper-local cost-of-living support”.

The incinerator, built in 1971, burnt more than 500,000 tonnes of waste last year and produced electricity for the equivalent of 80,000 homes.

The levies the NLWA charges the seven councils are expected to rise in coming years due to the £1.2 billion cost of building the Edmonton EcoPark, which includes a new incinerator and a large new waste processing facility.

The authority is run by councillors from Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Islington, and Waltham Forest.

The levy is expected to rise to £66m next year and reach £90m in 2025/26, with the cost to each council depending on the service it receives.

In November, Waltham Forest was due to pay £841,000, Barnet £974,000 and Hackney £601,000.