In 1986, faced with the increasing scarcity and the environmental problems of landfill[citation needed], the local authorities of Lewisham, Southwark, and Greenwich came together to identify an alternative.

In 1988, they formed an organisation - the South East London Combined Heat and Power Consortium - from which SELCHP now takes its name.

[2] The plans were taken forward by several Councillors, notably David Sullivan and Angela Cornforth of Lewisham and Len Duvall of Greenwich.

The two main shareholders (Martin Engineering Systems Limited and AHS Emstar) went on to obtain funding of £95 million and underwrote the construction of this first environmentally compliant (with EU regulations) Energy from Waste facility in Britain.

As a result of the action both Liberal Democrats on Lewisham Council and the Shadow Environment Secretary Peter Ainsworth pledged their support to the campaign.