Event Report: Ford Materials Recovery Facility Tour

Delegates arrived on a sunny morning in May to the West Sussex County Council’s Ford Materials Recycling Facility (MRF), operated by Viridor. The event was arranged by the Sustainable Business Network as part of the University of Brighton’s Green Growth Platform events programme.

Eki Evbuomwan, Viridor’s Education and Communications Officer, began with a presentation about the MRF. This state-of-the-art facility is capable of handling up to 100,000 tonnes of dry mixed recyclables a year, currently processing about 300 tonnes a day. This all comes from kerbside collections from households in West Sussex. Once they have been processed, these materials, including paper, plastic and aluminium, can then be transported to further recycling and recovery plants. Any materials that the MRF cannot process are transported to an Energy-from-Waste facility.

All profits made by the MRF are split equally between Viridor, and West Sussex County Council. To get the most value from this recycling, and to reduce the risk of contamination, Eki explained that waste in the recycling bin needs to be clean, dry and loose. In addition to this, recycling should not be disposed of in plastic carrier bags, as these cannot be recycled and are time-consuming to sort through. Shredded paper also risks clogging the system.

After Eki’s presentation, the hard-hats went on and the tour began! We had a great view of the facility and an even better insight into how the waste is sorted. The process begins with a visual assessment of the collected waste which is then loaded onto the conveyor belt and taken to the trommel. The various materials are then sorted and separated based on their weight and size. This process is done twice to ensure nothing is wasted – as Eki said, everything deserves a second chance!

After the tour, delegates took part in a quiz to test their knowledge of what can and cannot be recycled.

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