The site at Stourton to the south of Leeds, already boasts a materials recycling facility which is part of a £6 million investment. Built by O.Kay Engineering, the MRF is designed to take commercial commingled recyclables, local authority kerbside commingled and black bag waste using waste screens, magnets, eddy conveyors, flip flop screens other sorting equipment. This will be boosted early in the New Year with the installation of several Titechs to increase production and quality.
Investment
Alongside the boost to the business that the refit of the MRF will bring, Leeds Paper Recycling has also invested in one of the largest balers of its type seen in the UK. The company has purchased a PAAL Konti 600GSK baler with cross wiring, ruffler and high performance energy.
The German-made machine is used to bale all types of paper, plastics, rigid materials and also refused derived fuel and sits in one of the six 25,000 sq m units all on one site owned by the company at Stourton.
Managing director Jamie Todd told letsrecycle.com that the privately-owned family firm was very excited by the developments in 2011 which were all helping to expand its business and at the same time deliver on its commitment of not sending any material to landfill.
Expansion
Operational activities at the site are overseen by Thomas Todd, process and operations director, while father Michael, founder of LPR, continues to take a very active role in the business and taking on the new challenges that come with the increasing expansion of LPR . The MRF is run by experienced MRF manager Les Brown.
Jamie Todd says that “the fire in the preprocessing area earlier this year came as a shock but we managed to start processing again quickly because we have a large site with a series of buildings. We are fortunate that we can operate seven days a week and can process wet and dry material which comes in on LPRs ever increasing vehicle fleet and outside contractors.”
The seven day a week, 24 hours a day, operation with four shifts is one factor in the growth of the company and is permitted because of the industrial nature of its location.
Natural development
The current activities of the company, which employs 220 people, are what Jamie Todd believes are a natural development from its roots as a paper recycler. “We were originally a waste paper merchant but found that as industry developed and our customers became more aware they needed to find better solutions and outlets for their waste materials, so they asked us to process other wastes. Today we offer a commingled collection service for recycling, typically of plastics, cans and glass and we also offer a wet collection from restaurants as well.”
“Organic and wet wastes are processed in a dedicated area to produce three quality compost fractions,” explains Mr Todd.
For Leeds Paper Recycling being competitive on price is as crucial as providing a good service, Mr Todd says. We charge a gate fee but for our customers the main issue is that they know we want to avoid landfill and that we have good access and are open even Saturday and Sunday night.
About 60% of the company’s input comes from its own fleet of vehicles which operate day and night seven days a week.
Leeds Paper Recycling has grown its work in the commercial sector with a number of contract gains among blue chip companies, helped in part by installation of the baler, according to Mr Todd. He points to a significant contract with Hallmark Cards. Other notable work includes serving Leeds and Bradford airport, White Rose, Symingtons and a Morrisons distribution centre in Wakefield along with their stores throughout Yorkshire.
Residual waste
In terms of recycling, the development of the MRF will see sorting capacity increased to more than 350,000 tonnes per annum and will be boosted by the addition of Titech sorters.
For the residual waste coming into the site, treatment is carried out to remove the organic fraction and the recyclables and an energy feedstock is produced for domestic and export markets according to the required specifications.
Staff training plays a very important part in the company, keeping staff up to date with the latest regulations. Health and safety policies are being continually updated, says Mr Todd. “One of our current aims is to reduce vehicle movements on site and rather than have shovels going from building to building, we will be reducing these by installing a specially designed conveyor system that will run across the back of the entire site.”
He adds: “We have a quality management system for the site with ISO 9001 and 14001 and we are going to achieve 18001. We are trying to raise the bar as we move along.”
Family spirit
Going forward, Mr Todd says that the company aims to keep the family spirit of the company in terms of service and reliability. “We give our big and small customers a family service with our facilities allowing us to pull the whole value from their waste. This is a one stop shop, competitive on price and making a carbon footprint reduction. We also want to get the message over the importance of recycling, and for example, for our customers we will bring them to the MRF and see how it operates.”
Recently LPR have acquired a second site in Leeds to meet the needs of an ever increasing business. This second site will see the development of a second MRF, baling operation and further development of our waste to energy grades.
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