Press release - 22 May 2012

Recycling boosts local investment and jobs

Recycling at the Binn Farm eco park near Glenfarg is on the increase following investment of £350,000 at SITA UK’s dry mixed recycling facility and the creation of 13 new jobs.

The installation of a new, hi-tech, baling machine is central to the latest investment at the site and has increased productivity, meaning that SITA UK is now able to process around 25 tonnes of recyclables every hour – three times more than it was previously able to manage.

The recycling facility, which until two years ago was just an empty cattle shed, now employs 26 people and has attracted total investment of £750,000.

SITA UK was awarded a six year contract to manage recycled materials collected by Perth and Kinross Council in 2010. The company also manages recycling on behalf of Highland Council, helping both Authorities to increase the amount of waste recycled by local homes, decrease the amount of rubbish sent to landfill in order to reduce the burden of landfill tax and meet the targets of the Scottish Government’s zero waste policy.

Recyclable material collected from homes and businesses arrives at the site mixed together. The purpose of the dry mixed recycling facility is to separate out the different types of recyclables so that they can be transported onwards for reprocessing. Paper, for example, is separated and transported to a paper reprocessor, where it can then be turned into such things as newsprint or toilet tissue.

The dry mixed recycling can save 24 trees for every tonne of office paper recycled and five tonnes of ore for every tonne of recycled aluminium.

Richard Hinchcliffe, SITA UK Regional Manager said, “The successful conversion of the former cattle shed into a hi-tech recycling facility illustrates the investment and growth in environmental technology by SITA UK at the Binn eco park. This will enable the recovery of 15,000 tonnes of paper, cardboard, plastic and metal every year, material that would previously have been disposed of at landfill.”