First Minister opens giant Welsh recycling plant

Rhodri Morgan has cut the ribbon at a £3.5million recycling plant in Flintshire, marking the official launch of the biggest waste operation in Wales.


Run by Recyclo Ltd the Deeside plant has been in operation since May but on Monday, September 12 the Welsh Assembly’s First Minister made it official.

“We thought he would be happy to have a reason to fly the flag up here in North Wales,” Recyclo director Barry Roberts told edie.
“And obviously politicians like to be associated with recycling these days.”

The sprawling 11 acre site received support from both the Welsh Assembly and the Welsh Development Agency, both eager to see the country improve on its 16% recycling rate while providing jobs in the north.

The plant processes construction and industrial waste from all over North Wales and neighbouring Cheshire, with a sprinkling of municipal waste from local authorities.

“We don’t deal with food waste, but apart from that we take in all the usual stuff – glass, metals, cardboard, paper and plastics,” said Mr Roberts.

“We separate it then send it on, with some residual material to go back to landfill although obviously we try to keep that to a minimum.

“We’re at the first stage of the recycling process, if you like.”

“We’ve got plans to take things further down the line and it’s a big site so we’ve got the room to expand but that will take quite a bit of capital so at the moment we are focusing on the separating.”

Mr Roberts told edie that currently the processed materials were being sold to both domestic and foreign buyers and the company was building close links with a number of merchants.

The plant uses a purpose-designed separation system imported from the Netherlands from recycling technology specialists REDOX.

“It’s a pretty sophisticated system,” said Mr Roberts.

By Sam Bond

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