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Visit to the Grundon recycling facility
On a fresh autumn afternoon in October a motley group made up of Councillors, residents and staff made their way to Grundon based in Colnbrook, Slough to investigate the journey of Spelthorne’s recyclable materials.  The group was given an introduction to the company and it’s activities with energy from waste, commercial waste and domestic waste.  After tea, biscuits, donning hard hats and high visibility jackets the tour of the materials recovery facility (MRF) began.

Stepping into a huge hanger we saw the area where Spelthorne’s recycling was unloaded from the refuse vehicles.

waste hangar A grab loader vehicle then grabs the recycling and places it onto conveyor belts where sorting of the material begins.  The material is feed into a trommel – a machine like a giant tumble drier – which roughly sorts the recycling.  A stream of finer, lighter material containing mostly cans and tins is transported along a conveyor belt to a section where aluminium is seperated from steel.
inside the trommel Larger and heavier material such as glass falls through the holes in the sides of the trommel.  The rest of the material – plastics, paper, and cardboard – are taken by conveyor belt to the picking station.  
picking station The picking station consists of a room of twenty people who handpick the recycling into the different material streams.  These material streams are then baled up for reprocessing.
control room All of this activity is overseen from the high-tech control room where every aspect of the plant can be monitored and observed by the cctv and computers.
small bin
After a very informative tour the group leaves with a Grundon goody bag and a subtle message about the need to reduce waste.




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After a very informative tour the group leaves with a Grundon goody bag and a subtle message about the need to reduce waste.




Back to ideas page


Back to school environment