R Collard opens £2m aggregate wash plant

The £2 million facility will provide high-grade recycled aggregate products for regional construction and civil engineering developments in the South of England. The plant was opened by Sir Gerald Howarth, the MP for Aldershot on Friday (June 12).

Washing plants process construction and civil engineering wastes into a clean, homogenous, recycled product by removing contaminants and extracting silt and clay which bind the constituents together. Material processed at the site will be used in construction projects including the M3 Smart Motorway Project, the M4 widening scheme and the Bracknell town centre regeneration.

Design

Designed and installed by Duo Plc, the plant contains washing systems supplied by Terex and has an annual production capacity of around 250,000 tonnes.

Among the key features of the site, are ‘Cyclone’ technology, which produces high-grade coarse sand product with less than 2% silt content and integrated sorting systems capable of removing more contaminants.

Collard’s founder and managing director, Robert Collard commented: “Transport is a major factor in the cost of aggregate so our investment in this plant is a direct response to increasing demand for high quality, affordable recycled product in our catchment area throughout the South East. The refinements to the technology involved will enable us to process more wastes than we collect from local sites and create a truly closed-loop recycling system for construction waste in the South of England.”

The firm has also developed a 100,000 tonnes-per-year capacity materials recycling facility (MRF) at the Eversley site, which was opened in March 2014 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Speaking at the wash plant opening last week, Sir Gerald, said: “I would like to congratulate Robert and the team at Duo plc for developing this aggregate wash plant facility. I am delighted to be invited here and to be, once again, officially opening a major investment by R Collard Ltd.

“This is a wonderful example of a forward looking enterprise which is a huge credit to Robert whose commitment to early adoption of the very latest recycling technology will benefit the region and the UK as a whole.”