The state-of-the-art plant, installed this spring at the company's Mossley site, is capable of processing 40 tonnes of wood an hour.
” We had to make this investment just to stand still financially, because anybody that rests in this business falls down “
– Graham Hobson, R Plevin and Sons Ltd
Special machinery designed by German technology company Maier can produce quality woodchips to a variety of specifications, from animal bedding to chips for board mills.
The plant, which received 395,000 funding support from the Waste and Resources Action Programme, will soon be able to process up to 100,000 tonnes of wood a year, thereby doubling its current capacity.
Graham Hobson, financial director at Plevin's, told letsrecycle.com: “It was getting to the point that there were so many stipulations for quality wood chips from the board mills that this was the only way forward. We felt we had to make this investment just to stand still financially, because anybody that rests in this business falls down.”
Impressed
Mr Hobson said, despite a few teething problems, he had been impressed by the plant's performance.
He said: “The machinery is bespoke and the only of its kind in the country. It's much more geared up to our end markets. It can take all kinds of wood for different purposes and the volume and cleanliness of the end product is huge.”
Mr Hobson said the machinery's ability to remove dust from wood chippings was of particular significance, because it had caused problems for the board mills. “We have to work together,” he added.
WRAP, which has supported the project as part of its aim to expand markets for recycled materials, called the project a “huge achievement”.
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Michelle O'Riley, capital grants manager at WRAP, said: “This is an impressive facility by all accounts, and although there have been some slippages to get the plant operational, given the scale and nature of the project, it is a huge achievement.”
“Overall, the project will divert over 450,000 tonnes of waste wood over five years that would otherwise have gone to landfill,” she added.
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