At Kenny Waste Management, we work hard to guarantee that more than 99% of all the waste we process is diverted from landfill. Recycling is key to reducing waste that would otherwise end up in landfill, which is why most of the waste material we process goes on to be recycled.
We process more than 200 skips containing both domestic and commercial waste every day at our sector-leading facility in Salford. The volume, as well as the wide range, of waste material we deal with makes us uniquely placed to share the insights we’ve learned providing environmentally safe and controlled waste management solutions for more than 35 years.
Different waste streams require different processes and treatments in order to separate and aggregate materials to make them ready for recycling. In today’s Recycle Week article, we’ll be explaining the approach behind our guarantee and what happens to your waste during our innovative recovery process.
In order to ensure sustainability, we are continually adapting our approach to managing your waste. These improvements are leading to a healthier environment and ensure that our commitments to sustainability are being met.
Wood
We accept all types of wood at our facility, including hazardous wood, such as telegraph poles and railway sleepers, that contain harmful compounds. After we separate wood from the mixed waste stream, we grade it according to its type. These types define the future life of the recovered material, and the grades help wood recyclers improve their own efficiency by producing more products from the wood.
Our Grade A+ wood is the cleanest grade of wood, recovered from sources like unpainted pallets and virgin softwood joists, and is recycled into an environmentally friendly pet bedding option.
Grade A wood, which must be untreated but includes painted softwoods, is recycled into poultry bedding.
Grade B wood, such as oriented strand board (OSB), chipboard, and sheathing plywood, is recycled back into more sheet wood panels for use in the construction industry.
All other wood that can’t be reused or recycled, such as laminate flooring, worktops, MDF, and MFC, goes on to generate electricity by fuelling incinerators at specialist biomass energy facilities.
Metal
We accept metal of any type, whether it’s ferrous or non-ferrous. When a skip arrives at our site, large pieces of metal are separated from other waste material before being processed further through our plant. This is a necessary step that helps us protect our processing equipment. These large pieces are then collected into a stockpile that will eventually be sent to large scale reprocessing plants.
Smaller pieces of ferrous metal are captured from the conveyor belt by overband magnetic separators, to be directed down a separate chute. After that, we pick out the non-ferrous metal by hand. These two different types are then aggregated into separate stockpiles before finding their way to the reprocessing plants.
Aggregate
Waste materials from construction, such as brick, concrete, glass, slate, and ceramics, are completely inert and do not biodegrade over time. This makes them perfect for crushing into a product called 6F2, a type of inert fill used on construction sites. That’s the one product we recycle ourselves at our Salford facility.
The fill material must be produced to certain standards that are determined by the Environment Agency (EA) and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP); full compliance with these standards is a responsibility we take seriously. Our 6F2 is tested to confirm its compliance and then, once proven, the material can leave our facility as a product.
The recycled aggregate is the only material that leaves our facility as a finished product, because it meets the “end of waste” criteria laid out by the EA.
And much more:
We process a vast array of waste materials here at Kenny Waste Management. From cardboard, to plasterboard, to uPVC window frames, our plant prepares waste for recycling to take place, lengthening the lifespan of materials that have been thrown away.
For more on the rigorous processes behind our bespoke waste management and skip hire solutions, read our Behind The Scenes series to trace the journey your waste takes with us.
