Mark Fowles Managing Director of Elivate Ltd made a personal visit to the new Terex Plant to gain a better understanding of exactly what happens to the construction waste generated on our domestic and commercial building projects and to discuss with Collard their commitment to zero landfill.
Both domestic and commercial clients are asking more probing questions of their builders and the team at Elivate is committed to providing them with accurate and evidence-based responses, so when Mark visited Collards, one of the first questions he asked is “How much of the waste we put into your skips is recycled?” The hosts for the day were Karen Kinsella and Jim Skinner, Karen has spent over 20 years working in the family business and her knowledge of the industry was immense. Karen explained that depending on what construction waste we were filling the skips with she could say confidently that 100% of our skips were recycled. (Her reservations were around some flat roofing systems and any suspicious materials that could have asbestos in them – although Karen did say that this was now very rare as the fines are so high, most of her clients are very careful about what is put into the skips)
Kitted out in full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), Mark and the team from Collards headed off into the very noisy plant where the Terex machine was in full production. He was able to see the initial skips arrive, where photos were taken by the banksman of the contents, the new heat sensor cameras were able to detect any rises in the temperature to avoid any fires in the plant. The heavy machinery operators were picking up individual boxes, shaking them out and then placing the cardboard in a separate area, these operators are affectionately known as “orange peelers” as they are working with such accuracy, they could be emptying the boxes with their hands rather than the arm of a massive 40-tonne claw.
There is still a part of the process that uses a team of manual pickers, some of the staff working for Collards have been there as long as Karen, they are clearly a great employer with a strong working relationship with their employees.
Mark was shown around each of the bays and discussed some of the types of waste that comes from a construction site and how the Terex machine filters it and breaks it down, it is then collected and moved onto the next phase of the ‘circular economy’ it now exists within.
Collards remains a family-owned and run business, committed to its objective of zero waste to landfill. It employs over 400 staff across its businesses in Surrey, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire and currently turns over £ 70 million annually, having been started in 1939 by Robert Collards Grandfather, Fredrick Collard, as a food waste collection business.
Elivate operates its commercial and residential construction projects in a similar catchment area, the employees, subcontractors and clients all live and work in a similar area, and their children and grandchildren are growing up in this environment. It is good to know that one of the most important partners in the demolition and remodelling phase of the projects Elivate works on, is totally committed to making the process sustainable.