WASTE NOSTALGIA BY TIMOTHY BYRNE
John Allen, Chairman of Jack Allen (Sales and Service) Ltd and Malcolm Wood, Chairman & CEO Leigh Interests plc (right). The
vehicle in question is a Leyland Constructor T45 8x4 30 tonne Jack Allen Big Bite Mark V 27m3 industrial rear end loader.
Looking back at Black Country waste fi rms
WASTE companies Cartaways, Clugston Reclamation, Leigh Environmental and
A.Smith and Sons used to be a familiar sight on the Black Country’s roads. But how did these companies develop across the Black Country, and more to the point, where did they all go?
Cartaways was Stourbridge based, and was started by the late Norman Cartwright - who already owned and operated a transport business.
He purchased his fi rst new chain lift type skip loader in the 1960s from Meiller in Germany, which was mounted onto a Dodge chassis. The company grew quickly, and more skip loaders were soon added to the fl eet.
By the 1980s, Cartaways had been sold to Little Heywood Transport of Burton upon Trent. After the sale, Little Heywood Transport retained the Cartaways name, as it was a recognised brand across the Black Country.
The fl eet expanded from using conventional-type chain lift skip loaders, to hook lifts (roll-on-off s) and industrial rear-end loaders. Rear-end loaders were a mobile compaction vehicle, and more cost eff ective than the conventional chain lift skip lorry.
A rear-end loader could compress and collect six to eight skip loads of waste, compared to a conventional chain lift skip lorry having to make six to eight separate journeys. Fuel savings, maintenance cost reductions, and overall effi ciencies were achieved once the rear-end loaders had been added to the fl eet.
Liquid waste vacuum tankers for the collection of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes were also added to the fl eet.
Cartaways expanded from Stourbridge, with depots opening in Birmingham, Coventry, Burton-upon-Trent and Mountsorrel in Leicestershire. The company also opened a number of controlled landfi ll sites.
In the mid 1980’s, Leigh Interests-Leigh Environmental acquired Little Heywood Transport and Cartaways, integrating both operations into Leigh’s Black Country, West Midlands, and Derbyshire operating divisions.
Little Heywood Transport and Cartaways’ dry and liquid waste vehicle fl eets were repainted into the familiar ‘Leigh’ green colour scheme.
Clugston Reclamation (originally known as ‘Recomet,’) operated a depot in Moor Street, Brierley Hill, with a mixed fl eet of vehicles such as dumpsters, chain lift skip loaders, industrial rear-end loaders, hook lifts and articulated bulk tippers.
Clugston also operated a 13-acre sand quarry as a controlled landfi ll site near Kingswinford. One of Clugston’s major waste disposal contracts was collecting industrial waste from the Round Oak Steelworks in Brierley Hill.
In the mid-1980s, GKN Brambles-Cleanaway, the UK’s largest waste management company, acquired Clugston Reclamation’s nationwide operating assets, including Brierley Hill. The Brierley Hill depot was closed, and all vehicles and staff were transferred to Cleanaway’s Coventry Road depot in Birmingham.
Leigh Interests plc-Leigh Environmental originated from the Leonard Leigh group of companies, and had their Head Offi ce at Lindon Road in Brownhills. The company was led by the late Malcolm Wood, who operated a number of subsidiary companies such as Effl uent Disposal and Waste Plan, with depots at Kingswinford, Birmingham and Brownhills.
Eventually all these companies were rebranded as Leigh Environmental, and the trucks were painted in the Leigh green colour scheme and new logo - a fl ower crest. The Leigh green colour was chosen by Malcom’s wife Estintina Wood.
Leigh specialised in liquid and dry waste collection, and operated several collection depots as well as hazardous and non- hazardous waste treatment plants across the region.
72 SHM September, 2017
www.skiphiremagazine.co.uk
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