Royton-based Shredtec Recyclers Ltd is understood to have been criticised by the Oldham MP over waste materials at the plant. A statement from Shredtec said that local residents, including the MP who represents Oldham and Royton, have described the site as an “eyesore” prompting Mr Meacher to go to the Environment Agency to complain.
” If Mr Meacher had taken the time to ask what we do, I don't think he would have been so quick to criticise “
– Ian Murray, Shredtec
The Agency visited the site last week and although it has not enforced any action on the company regarding the frames, it has given them a timetable to remove other waste off of the site – including fridges and tyres.
Shredtec said that it is currently undergoing a 1 million pound upgrade to its site, although plans have been slowed by a failure to get an application for funding in to WRAP.
Fully licensed
Shredtec's managing director Ian Murray has said that the company is fully licensed and every tonne of material it takes in can be recycled.
He told letsrecycle.com: “If Mr Meacher had taken the time to ask what we do, I don't think he would have been so quick to criticise. It is the age old adage, everyone wants recycling but not next door.
“Every tonne of PVC that we handle is a tonne less that is sent to landfill, we send zero to landfill. Even the dust goes to make temporary fencing – not one shred goes to landfill. Our big pile of frames is a result of government policy actually working,” he added.
A letter was received by the Environment Agency in September concerning the site, prompting a visit last Wednesday (November 29), a spokeswoman for the Agency said.
PVC pile
In the letter Mr Meacher questioned the general waste on the site and referred to a pile of PVC window frames.
” We can confirm that there was an interest from Mr Meacher and we are keeping him updated “
– Environment Agency
A spokeswoman for the Agency told letsrecycle.com: “We can confirm that there was an interest from Mr Meacher and we are keeping him updated. There has been no enforcement notice but an official letter has been sent to the site. It sets out a time scale for the removal of unsuitable waste materials from the site – these include tyres, fridges, scrap and car engines.
“We are now waiting on the level of response to the time scales before taking any further action. The next step has yet to be determined,” she added.
Shredtec's plant is currently handling PVC frames, although it is capable of recycling many other materials, including plastics and metals such as bins.
The company is currently going through a process of upgrading the plant a month at a time. It had intended to seek WRAP funding to try and speed the process along and allow it to handle PVC from construction waste.
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Shredtec is now on the look out for alternative forms of funding to speed along its upgrade. At this point the company is handling around 22 tonnes of PVC frames every day.
Mr Murray said: “We have a very good plant and we keep making changes, but it is difficult because we are a fantastic company. We still have a fabulous plant here, but it would be nice to have state of the art equipment.”
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