BULK MATERIALS HANDLING
Offerton Sand & Gravel develop aggregates sales arm with help from the new QJ241 from Sandvik Mining and Construction
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ince 1986 Offerton Sand & Gravel has developed a reputation as a premier recycler of soils and aggregates. Based at their sixty three acre quarry site in Stockport, Cheshire, they now supply high quality materials to the construction industry throughout the UK, where their materials have helped form the backbone of a multitude of projects. Lately they have taken advantage of their expertise in producing top quality aggregate products to add related materials such as decorative gravel, new & recycled stone, bark, sand and other landscaping materials, through their supply arm – The Stockport Stone Company. Aiding this development has been the recent purchase of the brand new QJ241 tracked jaw crusher from Sandvik Mining and Construction. Offerton Sand & Gravel are justly proud of the fact that they were leaders in recycling construction materials a long time before it became fashionable; since 1986 they have been in the business of recycling soils and aggregates for use in the construction industry. From these beginnings they have continued a strategy of investment and business development that enables them to boast a modern licensed recycling facility that is able to process a variety of waste materials. Although primarily serving a customer base focused on Manchester, Cheshire and North Derbyshire, they are able to, and have,
supplied recycled materials on projects throughout the UK. As Martin Ridgway, of Offerton Sand & Gravel states: “We were obviously driven by a business opportunity (in processing and recycling materials for resale) but even in 1986 a key motivating factor for us was that we felt these perfectly reusable materials were just going to waste. With the world’s resources not going to last forever it just made common sense to re-use the materials as much as possible. Essentially we are proud of the fact that we have developed a successful business helping the environment." All recycling activities are fully authorised by the Environment Agency, and Offerton Sand & Gravel pride themselves on their excellent working relationship with the agency, and their equally impressive environmental track record. The current waste management licence covers the entire sixty three acre site and is licenced to treat up to 150,000 tonnes per year. The actual site is divided into three sections with the first being used to recycle the industrial, commercial and household skip waste brought into site by their own fleet of 12 vehicles and 150 skips. This enables Offerton to also accept waste from a large number of other skip hire companies due to the strategic location, and their impressive state of the art facilities.
The second section of the site is a landfill area; however, and again emphasizing
Offerton’s environmental credentials, this area is also used to recycle any inert waste. Due to the sizeable investment that has occurred during recent years they are now able to process up to 100 tonnes per hour of mixed soils and aggregates. A major success factor in this processing capability has been the use of a multiple screening system which has been designed in-house. This impressive system is able to produce a screened soil possessing features that makes it almost identical to virgin topsoil, thereby enabling it to be sold for reuse under the NHBC standards. Martin expands on Offerton’s activities: –
“We pride ourselves on our high recycling rates, and now over 90% of our inert waste brought into site is processed into recycled aggregates and soil. The waste transfer station processes the skip waste, recycling wood, various metals, and plastics, cardboard, hard- core and soils together with any other reusable items.” Although this is admirable, Martin is keen to stress that these developments are not the end of the story – “We don’t rest on our laurels as we are currently undertaking feasibility studies for an on-site composting plant for green waste, which will hopefully include the chipping of white wood to reduce transport costs.” The importance of this he further explains: “Making compost from green waste minimises the amount (of material) going to landfill, and thus reduces the pressure
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Bulk Solids Today
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