Richard Dobbs presented a power point and
highlighted the following points:
- Some trees
identified as part of the ecological survey were relocated before
development
- Clegg started work
in May 2021, they did earthwork to make the land flat (30,000 cubic
metres of earth was moved)
- The three main
structures were up (in feed hall, process hall and out feed hall)
and steel cladding was on the roof. PV (photovoltaics) will go on
the roof too
- At the time of the
meeting the bays for the offices, material reception, and storage
were being installed
- The MRF will be
painted green to look less intrusive
- Machine X will
build and install the processing equipment with the first robot
being completed in February 2022, the company were building robots
they had not built for anyone else
- Pick rates for
robots that are less sophisticated than the robots that will be in
the MRF were impressive
- Richard’s
team will attend the factory acceptance testing to make sure
Machine X are building what they need
- The MRF will be
the Sherbourne Recycling company and part of a wider business.
Policy and procurement work was being done to make this
business
- The Environmental
Agency needs to approve the permitting requirements before waste is
accepted
- A big recruitment
exercise was planned to try and get the next level of management
and supervision in place before the final recruitment for the rest
of the workforce
- In July 2022 there
will be a nine-month placement with a Warwick University
sustainability undergraduate, to help with the technical aspects.
Local universities would be worked with to continue this placement
and get local expertise
- The local
community were being updated with the MRF’s progress and how
it will promote sustainability and help climate change. The aim was
to get the community involved in the MRF
- Progress with
finding outlets for the material that would be produced was good,
as the MRF will produce material not on the market anywhere
else
- The MRF will
produce raw material as a product to markets for producers to use
in their products
- Producers wanting
to buy this product now were mainly UK based which will be good for
the MRFs reputation as well as sustainability and climate change
credentials
- Tom White were
being discussed with about a bespoke haulage solution for the MRF,
this should be agreed late spring 2023
- Vehicle movement
would be monitored closely to ensure net zero emissions where
possible
- Smarter transport
should increase the MRF’s capacity because vehicle movements
take up half of its capacity
- The main
construction will start in Summer 2022
- The storms in
Spring 2022 and Covid-19 caused disruption in the MRF’s
development i.e. with the global supply
chain, drivers, demand for materials etc.
- 70 contractors
were on site at any one time doing their jobs like pouring
concrete, putting up secondary steering, implementing the private
wiring that links the MRF to the waste disposal company next
door
- The power
connection will be implemented in Sumer 2022 along with the PV on
the roof; the full roof capacity is 1300 kilowatts which will
create an almost full electric fleet on site
- The loading shovel
will be the only non-electric transport equipment, but it should be
low carbon emitting
- The machinery was
due to arrive on site in 2022
- The commissioning
phase will start late spring/early summer 2023
- The MRF was on
track to be fully operational in Summer 2023
Councillor Shenton praised that the material
being produced from the MRF will be classed as raw material instead
of recyclate.
In response to Councillor Shenton, Richard
Dobbs stated that there has been some slippage in the timetable
however work was done with developers of the equipment and their
timetables, to avoid any delays so the MRF was still planned to
open in Summer 2023.