Recycling experts Scott Bros. are preparing to make a major £3m investment in Teesside’s circular economy.
The family-run firm is looking to install a second and much larger ‘urban quarry’ to convert construction and excavation waste into high quality sand and aggregates for use in the construction industry.
It is estimated the state-of-the-art wash plant would create an extra 12 jobs and further secure the future of the company’s current 120-strong workforce.
The move follows the success of a £1m wash plant, which is now operating at full capacity, after it was installed in January at its site at Norton Bottoms, next to the A19 flyover.
Such is the demand for the commercially viable and environmentally sustainable products that the Stockton-based firm is now looking to install a second, much larger, wash plant at its site off John Boyle Road, South Bank – next to the former British Steel site.
The current wash plant processes 50 tons of inert material per hour, while the £3m wash plant is capable of processing 150 tons per hour.
Scott Bros. is in the process of investigating the possibility of securing grant funding towards the major project, as well as the requirements of gaining full planning permission.
It is currently working with Teesside University to find a commercially viable use for the ‘filter cake’ – a fine-grained clay-based material produced as a by-product of the wash plant, which can be used as for a number of applications including pond lining clay or inert fill.
Experts from the School of Computing, Engineering and Digital Technologies are examining methods of creating a binding agent to produce a cementitious product for use in the manufacture of bricks and floor screeds.
However, if the new wash plant is created on the site, the filter cake could be used in the remediation of surrounding sites as part of the ongoing process to bring the land back into economic use.
Karen King, deputy leader of Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, who visited the site to learn more about the proposals, said: “It’s great to see a local company go from strength to strength in our area. The wash plant would not only secure much needed additional jobs but reduce carbon emissions and provide alternatives to the building trade by offering a sustainable alternative whilst reducing pollution.”
Peter Scott, a Director of Scott Bros. said: “We opened our current wash plant earlier this year and it is already running at full capacity – which is great news for both the environment and the construction industry.
“It has proved such a success that we want to triple our original £1m investment in a much larger and more efficient wash plant which would save on finite natural resources by recycling and reusing materials already in use. It will also create much-needed jobs in the area.
“Scott Bros. is a family-run firm which is rooted in the community and determined to contribute to improving Teesside’s economy and its environment by designing out waste and pollution.”
