The company applied for planning permission for the £5 million plant in March 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story), and, once operational, the site will be capable of treating up to 100,000 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) a year.
Wincanton expects the new facility to operate alongside its site in the north-east, as well as offering support for its national network of centres that sort WEEE for either reuse or recycling.
And, as with the Billingham plant, the new treatment facility will use machinery that has been developed and manufactured by German engineering company MeWa.
The company's managing director for recycling, Euan Jackson, welcomed the commencement of work on the Daventry site.
“Since the inception of the WEEE Directive, Wincanton has led the way in offering best-in-class treatment and recycling facilities,” he said.
“There is still much work to do before the obligations of the WEEE Directive are fully integrated into every producer's operations, but this second site will offer an extended service to help those affected by the legislation to manage their environmental responsibilities,” he added.
Initially work at the site will concentrate on building offices and a warehouse, with the aim of beginning work on the MeWa machine in October 2008.
The company hopes to be able to undertake sorting operations at Daventry in December, a particularly busy period for EEE producers and retailers, with the facility becoming fully operational in early 2009.
Expansion
Mr Jackson also outlined his future hopes for the company, having recently taken over responsibility for the expansion of Wincanton's recycling operations in the UK – as well as potentially increasing its services in mainland Europe.
“The UK recycling industry is an exciting sector to be working in, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future, such is the importance of environmental sustainability and reduction in carbon footprinting,” he explained.
“Our operations are designed to take both carbon and cost out of the supply chain, as well as reducing the volume of product ending up in landfill. I will look forward to the challenge of growing our business, while at the same time minimising industry's impact on the environment,” he added.
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