Due to rapid growth in waste volumes and an increase in landfill taxes, Mick George Ltd, based in the UK, were keen to streamline their operations. They realised investment in a new materials recovery facility was required and they approached Kiverco to design and install a state of the art recycling plant at their site in St. Ives.
The Challenge
The St Ives site was originally purchased in 1999 and started operating as a waste site in 2006. Following the purchase of further sites and the opening of other Transfer Stations, St Ives soon became a hub for other facilities. Along with the acquisition of landfill sites and an increase in HRMC Landfill Tax, it soon became apparent to the management team that a new approach to this market segment was required. Restricted space at the existing sites, the need to sort material in order to achieve higher recovery rates and growing demand for its services, all led them to look for a fresh solution to these issues.
Requirements
They chose Kiverco as their preferred supplier for a new waste recycling plant, as reliability and long service life were crucial. The company also wanted to ensure that the final choice of recycling plant equipment incorporated the very latest in sorting technology, to maximise recovery rates and to utilise all processed material, to meet the goal of zero waste to landfill. This would even include the >10mm material, which would be processed at a specialist washing plant, owned by Mick George (located at Mepal). An important requirement was for the waste treatment plant to be capable of simultaneously handling mixed waste streams, to cope with the growing diversity of the company’s waste collection business.
The Solution
Every Kiverco waste processing plant is uniquely designed to meet the requirements of the individual customer. In this case, the demands of the customer, together with the site layout and Kiverco’s vast knowledge of similar material processing requirements, led to the following solutions being proposed:
- High specification picking cabins throughout the plant, with full HVAC systems, larger windows and higher ceilings, to make spacious and comfortable working areas.
- All plant PLC controls housed in a bespoke air conditioned and climate controlled sorting cabin.
- Full CCTV system installed, with the monitor located in the control room.
Watch the installation here:
An indication of the scale of this plant can be gained by the fact that it took 41 articulated vehicle loads to transport the recycling equipment from Northern Ireland to Cambridgeshire!
Both parties worked closely together during the extensive installation and commissioning phases, with Kiverco having been given full access to the site, to enable the experienced team of engineers and electricians, together with specialists from Untha, Steinert and Walair to come together to ensure that the demanding programme was adhered to. The plant was also fully supported by Kiverco engineers, under a Kivercare bespoke inspection and maintenance programme to ensure maximum uptime over the life of the plant.
"We now have a facility that I believe to be the best in East Anglia and which will enable us to meet our planned growth targets over the coming years.
Waste management and recycling is a core activity for this business. It was critically important not only that our chosen supplier had the experience to design and build this plant, but that they were also willing to listen to what we wanted and then incorporate our requirements into the final plant design and build. I was confident that Kiverco could do this and I have not been disappointed."
Michael George, Contracts Manager, Mick George Ltd