MINISTER OPENS MULTI-MILLION-POUND METALS-RECYCLING TERMINAL
Andrew Davies, AM, Minister for Economic Development & Transport, visited Associated British Ports’ (ABP) Port of Newport today (Wednesday, 17 November) to officially open one of Europe’s leading metals-recycling terminals.
The terminal, which is operated by Sims Group UK – part of the Australian international metals-recycling company – is equipped with the world’s largest industrial shredder, capable of processing 450 end-of-life vehicles an hour. A brand-new gantry crane will also ensure the facility has one of the fastest ship-loading rates for a metals-recycling terminal anywhere in Europe.
In addition, the terminal has a new railfreight facility, which has been part-funded by a £1.72 million Freight Facilities Grant awarded by the Welsh Assembly Government.
The grant was awarded to ABP and Sims Group in June 2003 and formed part of a major multi-million-pound investment programme in which Sims invested some £10 million in commissioning new equipment for the terminal, and ABP, for its part, invested some £3.5 million in major infrastructure works at the port.
The heart of the metals-recycling terminal is the giant 9,200-HP metal-shredding plant which can process 350 tonnes of metal an hour. It is an important piece of machinery, as Tom Bird, Managing Director, Sims Group UK, explains:
“The shredder is the latest design for this type of technology and allows for improved yield of all metals. The shredder will also contribute to the group’s ongoing investment in technology to recover non-metallic materials, such as plastics and glass, emphasising Sims Group’s stance on a complete and legislatively compliant process for metals recycling and, more specifically, end-of-life-vehicle recycling.”
The railfreight facility will handle in excess of 60,000 tonnes of scrap metal transported from Wimborne and Nottingham each year, saving the equivalent of nearly 52,174 lorry trips, or almost seven million road miles, over 10 years.
Andrew Davies said:
"By removing more than 5,000 lorry trips each year from our roads, this new freight facility is good news for the environment.The Welsh Assembly Government is keen to encourage the use of all forms of sustainable transport, both public and commercial, and this is a major step forward in achieving this aim."
The infrastructure works undertaken by ABP included the refurbishment of a rail link, the enhancement of electricity supply to the site, the provision of a further six acres of storage space and engineering works to install the gantry crane.
John Copping, Port Director, ABP South Wales Ports, said:
“Sims is an established and growing customer of ABP Newport.In the last two years alone, throughput at its facility has more than doubled.Our investment has laid the groundwork for Sims’ expansion and the establishment of a strong export trade at the port.”
Once processed, the metal is exported to steel mills all over the world where it is recycled back into metal products.
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