The three-acre site, located close to Hanger Lane, was officially opened on Friday (6 May) by Dan Mulhall, the ambassador of Ireland to Great Britain.
Formed in 1959 by Irishman Joe O’Donovan, the company remains in family hands, with four of the founder’s children now running the business. O’Donovan currently employs around 140 staff in the capital with a turnover of close to £16 million per year.
The company operates four sites near Tottenham, as well as the new West London location, in which O’Donovan has invested close to £15 million. Construction work on the site began in early 2015 and was concluded late last year.
Material sent to the Alpreton facility, primarily from construction and demolition sites across the capital, goes through a screening and manual picking process, in the enclosed facility.
Process
The process involves the separation of recyclable materials such as plastic, metals and wood, while non-recyclable residual waste is removed and shredded for the production of refuse derived fuel (RDF) which is baled and wrapped on-site and stored outside. The facility also produces an aggregate product for construction uses.
Equipment for the site has been manufactured and installed by Kiverco and includes a belt feeder, a trommel and a picking station with a blower. The picking station also includes a fines clean-up system.
Due to its close proximity to residential and other industrial properties the terms of the site’s licence require that noise and vibrations from the site will be closely monitored. The Alpreton facility also falls within an Air Quality Management Area, so emissions of PM10 will also be monitored.
The site also features solar panels for electricity generation and a rain water harvesting system with capacity to store 60,000 litres of water for use in the site’s suppression systems.
Watch a timelapse video of the plant being constructed below:
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