Ms Byrne was previously working at paper reprocessor Aylesford Newsprint. The materials recycling facility at Crayford can process about 150,000 tonnes of fully co-mingled material each year along with about 40,000 tonnes of mixed paper.
”You can't get a silk purse from a sow's ear – there has to be good quality material coming into the plant to start with. “
– Mary Corin, Grosvenor
The plant had to slow its operation earlier this year to cope with increasingly stringent quality demands required by the Environment Agency for exporting material, but Mary Corin, director of recycling development, said the company is now making a strong commitment to quality.
Ms Corin said: “We have three people now who work on the analysis of material – this shows a big commitment to quality. But, we need the help of local authorities and waste management companies in reaching the highest quality standards.”
Ms Byrne's new role will be analysing input quality, working with local authorities and waste management companies to make sure the material going into the recycling plant – up to 4,000 tonnes a week – is in line with contract requirements.
Ms Corin said the market for sorting materials is currently over-supplied, and that MRFs can therefore pick and choose the material they receive. She warned councils and waste companies: “In order to guarantee your market, you have to make sure the material is good quality.
“We are working towards the lowest possible proportion of contamination, but you can't get a silk purse from a sow's ear – there has to be good quality material coming into the plant to start with,” she explained.
Plastics
With the huge demand from local authorities to sort material collected from the kerbside, Grosvenor is now hoping to expand its sorting capacity at the Crayford plant. The company has gained funding support from the London Recycling Fund to look into the possibility of installing optical plastics sorting technology.
Some of the material sorted through such a system could ultimately go to the plastics reprocessing facility in Dagenham proposed by Closed Loop London (see letsrecycle.com story). Ms Corin said Grosvenor is researching how it could recycle HDPE itself – producing products like drainage pipes – as well as possible uses for residual plastics.
Subscribe for free