The notice was first published on 14 December and originally gave Suez until 20 January to comply. The HSE pushed the date back by four weeks to 17 February. The notice however has now been withdrawn by the HSE.
A HSE spokesperson told letsrecycle.com earlier today: “We have withdrawn the improvement notice following detailed discussions with Suez about the specifics of the issue relating to the conveyor system at this site. Suez has made subsequent improvements to the conveyor in question.”
Notice
The notice had explained that the health and safety regulator found breaches of the health and safety at work act and of provision and use of work equipment regulations.
Suez recycling and recovery UK is in an operational service agreement with TerraCycle for the warehousing, processing and storage of materials at the shed.
The HSE said the yellow conveyor belt system needed emergency controls to bring it to a stop when an “irregular event” occurs.
‘Pleased’
In an updated statement sent earlier, Paul Marsden, director for health & safety within Suez recycling and recovery UK, said: “The improvement notice we received from the HSE has been withdrawn after a collaborative session held with the HSE inspector and Principle Inspector. The HSE observed some improvement approaches which have been implemented, satisfying the outcomes from the joint session. We’re pleased with the outcome as it’s a testament to our mature health and safety culture.
“We put the safety of our employees, and the public we serve, at the centre of everything we do. We have invested significantly in our health and safety management systems over the past decade and created a successful, long-running, ‘Safety in Mind’ programme, which helps us to continually improve our health and safety performance.”
Shares
Suez recycling and recovery UK has an operational service agreement with TerraCycle despite no longer having a stake in the firm. TerraCycle describes itself as “an innovative recycling company that has become a global leader in recycling hard-to-recycle materials”.
In October 2016, Suez – which is headquartered in Paris – revealed it was acquiring 30% of TerraCycle’s recycling business in northern and western Europe as it looked to expand the range of collection programmes it operated (see letsrecycle.com story).
Consequently, Stuart Hayward-Higham, technical development director at Suez recycling and recovery UK, became a director at TerraCycle UK Ltd. However, a note published on Companies House shows the termination of Mr Hayward-Higham’s position as a TerraCycle UK director on 1 June last year.
It is understood Mr Hayward-Higham stood down from his TerraCycle role following an agreement to sell a separate Suez Group company to Veolia.
Letsrecycle.com asked Veolia for clarification about its involvement with the ownership of Terracycle.
*Updated on 10 February at 12:25 to reflect the fact the notice has been withdrawn.
Subscribe for free