Shady Lane 2

Shady Lane - Birmingham

Specialist Innovator of the Year

A Unique Urban Quarry - Revolutionising management of waste materials

We produce a variety of waste materials from our projects. We are industry recognised in recycling and material management operating crushers and recycling plant since 1983, being one of the first in the UK to operate such plant.

In 2003 we purchased a site in Great Barr. The plan was to add to our other two recycling sites at Meriden and Stechford, the site would process a different band of material from which we could reclaim “added value” materials.

In 2004 the Waste Resources Action Programme- WRAP advertised for interested parties to submit tenders for grant aid from the Government funded organisation to encourage recycling. The submission was extensive covering every aspect of our business and recycling proposals.

The idea was………

Take pre-screened excavated spoil from projects and wash it. The idea of washing it was to remove material not suitable for construction purposes. However all unsuitable material would have to be recycled to achieve all of our objectives.

WRAP responded to our tender with grant aid of £391,000.00 allowing the maximum available percentage of 30% against anticipated capital outlay, clearly demonstrating their commitment to our innovation.

We Travelled Europe sourcing quarrying plant used for a similar application that could be adapted for our requirements. The material we produced and sought to process was difficult to manage, this presented a number of problems.

• Removal of deleterious material
• Managing the silt as a by-product
• Managing the process in a residential environment

Over the course of 18 months we selected key suppliers and consultants to design the recycling centre. This equipment is now in operation and produces 120,000 tonnes of recycled aggregate per annum.

From excavated spoil the plant produces the following certified aggregates.

• Clay
• Building sand
• 5-10mm aggregate
• 10-20mm aggregate
• 20-40mm aggregate

The oversize material is crushed to 40mm and reprocessed through an impactor to produce a Type 1 material.

All materials produced are compliant with WRAP’s Environment Agency approved quality protocol