Derbyshire firm's £1.5 million investment maximises metal processing capacity

The new Metso pre-shredder makes metal processing much easier.

A new EtaRIP 250 pre-shredder is now fully operational on the Ward Recycling site in Ilkeston, following significant groundworks and infrastructure improvements at a cost of more than £1.5 million.

Donald Ward, operations director at Ward said: “Our metal recycling business has seen a big increase in demand in the last couple of years, particularly with exports from our deep-sea dock at Immingham, which meant we needed to invest in processing the increased tonnage more quickly and efficiently.

“With the new pre-shredder, we are now pre-processing vehicles before they go into the main shredder.

“This minimises risk from any explosions from gas bottles hidden in vehicles, as well as preventing damage to our core machinery, reducing down time and saving energy.”

Even though the new kit is working in addition to the original large metal shredding plant, processing essential waste to keep supply chains running, there has been no real increase in the energy consumption.

Ward has also found there are now few energy spikes meaning the pre-shredding equipment is improving the overall energy usage on its Ilkeston site.

Damage caused to machinery in the main shredding plant by processing very large pieces of metal has also reduced thanks to the pre-shredder, reducing maintenance downtime.

Donald added: “Legislation around metal shredding sites is constantly changing as standards continually improve across the UK and Europe.

“This installation enables us to be at the forefront of recycling within the metal industry and demonstrate best available techniques when processing cars and other large metal items.”

Across its Derbyshire and Immingham sites, Ward is now able to process and recycle close to half a million tonnes of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal of all grades for sale within the UK and to export overseas, per year.

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