The grant will go to family-owned John Wade Haulage, which takes material from Darlington borough council's kerbside collections.
Situated close to the Corus plant at Lackenby, Darlington's kerbside collection service targets about 45,000 households. Darlington currently recycles about 12.8% of its municipal waste. The new equipment will allow for the recycling scheme to separate steel from aluminium cans.
Commenting on the grant, Darlington councillor Chris McEwan, said: “Thanks to the generosity of Corus, our recycling efforts have become more efficient. Recycling in Darlington has been really well received. However, in order for our Time to Recycle scheme to be truly effective in meeting its targets, we need all residents to come on board and take part in the scheme.”
 Celebrating: (left to right) Richard Turner of TJ Thompson Ltd, Corus commercial manager David Williams, Bruce Whitley from John Wade Haulage and Darlington recycling officer Phil Scrafton |
The grant comes from packaging waste recovery note (PRN) revenue, money originally from producers of packaging waste supplied to boost recycling levels under UK producer responsibility regulations.
David Williams, commercial manager at Corus Steel Packaging Recycling, said: “Ultimately, this will benefit the environment and the Council Taxpayers of Darlington, providing further incentive for their involvement. This is a truly local solution to household steel recycling. I wish it every success.”
Steel sorted and baled with the new equipment will be further processed in Stockton, by TJ Thompson, one of Corus' 13 approved CanRoute centres, before going to the Lackenby plant to be turned into reusable steel.
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