WEEE centre opens for business

Recycling.co.uk has officially opened its new 4650m2 centre for waste electrical and electronic equipment.

Recycling.co.uk has officially opened its new 4650m2 centre for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

The result of approximately half a million pounds of investment, the new WEEE centre is located on the Red Scar Industrial Estate near Longridge and features several specially designed buildings in which the company carries out a variety of recycling activities.

It was opened at a special ceremony by Charles Jackson, Managing Director of Recycling.co.uk.

The event was attended by representatives of the Chartered Institute of Waste Management, public sector bodies, registered waste handlers and a broad spectrum of other organisations.

Visitors heard how the new centre was created as a result of the growth and diversification of the company's different divisions - particularly its computer recycling section - and because there was a clear need within the UK for modern, effective and fully accountable systems for handling potentially hazardous materials such as cathode ray tubes (CRT).

One of the new buildings on the site is a 930m2 purpose built CRT processing facility, in which trained staff test discarded televisions and computer monitors.

Inoperative units are separated out and then broken down safely into their constituent materials - plastic, glass, metal and electrical components.

The process has required the construction of a series of conveyors, an electrical testing station and a specially developed CRT glass separation bench which enables the clear, phosphor-coated glass at the front of the tube to be separated from the lead funnel glass on the sides.

The site also incorporates a new warehouse, which is used as part of the company's storage and distribution service for ICT equipment, and another structure that houses a WEEE shredder.

This new machine is used in the recycling of general household electrical items such as toasters, kettles and microwave ovens.

Capable of processing around 4 tonnes per hour, it breaks items down into small pieces and segregates the metals - copper, aluminium, stainless steel and ferrous metals - through a combination of magnetic and eddy-current separation.

The plastic waste recovered by this process is sent for further segregation and recycling.

"We are all very proud of the new WEEE recycling centre", said Managing Director Charles Jackson.

"We have worked hard to create what is probably the UK's most modern and sophisticated facility for processing electrical and electronic waste".

"It gives us the confidence to say to our customers that whatever form of electrical waste they have, we can handle and recycle it in strict compliance will all current and proposed legislation".

In late November, prior to the official launch of the centre, the CRT facility began small-scale, commercial activities, processing televisions and computer monitors for a handful of local authorities and businesses.

Since then, it has grown rapidly and has already won sizeable contracts from public and private sector clients across the UK.

Now, with the whole WEEE centre becoming operational, Jackson expects to see a further increase in activity and is keen to ensure that potential clients understand the company's various capabilities.

"From this new centre, we can offer a comprehensive recycling facility that meets all current legal requirements and industry standards", he explains.

"We have undergone rigorous assessment by the Environment Agency and are recognised as a fully licensed handler of hazardous waste electronic and electrical equipment".

"We are registered as an authorised treatment facility, as a waste transfer station and as a licensed waste carrier".

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