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Metal & Waste
Ltd
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An Interview With Industry Magazine (Reproduced with their kind permission)
“Scrap is not waste,” Gary Widdowson reminds me. “It’s a vital recycling product, because there’s just not enough metal out there. People just don’t realise what goes on with scrap, and have a preconceived image of a yard full of old cars. But without the recycling of metal, we wouldn’t have metal products.” Recycling may be relatively new in many areas, but, in the case of metal, it has been going on for 100 years, and Metal & Waste Recycling (formerly G.D. Metal Recycling Limited), of which Gary Widdowson is group M.D., is one of the biggest recyclers of ferrous and non-ferrous metals in the country. It collects 500,000 tonnes of scrap metal from industry each year, and processes it into a form from which it can be melted down to become the basis of new products. It’s a major operation, with some 5,000 containers sited at manufacturing operations around the country, and with a fleet of 70 specialist vehicles providing a 24-hour collection service. “The price the manufacturer receives from scrap is fundamental to the cost of the product that he’s making,” Gary explains. “Stamping, for example, can produce a huge amount of surplus metal. The price he gets for this affects the manufacturer’s own prices, and it can make all the difference between winning and losing an order. We supply the foundry sector of the UK, Europe and America. The steelworks sector can take lower quality metal and dilute the melt with additives, but the foundry sector has particular specifications, such as low-carbon or low-chrome. The steelworks is the company that buys demolition scrap, whereas the foundry sector looks for bales of known quality. Our buyers try to match a manufacturer’s requirements. This gets a better price for the manufacturer, and being able to secure that, helps us to win the contract. The process of matching is something that we specialise in, because the foundry is prepared to pay an increased price for the right product. In the South of England, he adds, Metal & Waste Recycling also has a major presence in the steelworks market. “We have some 500 cars a day brought in to our various sites around London. A major issue there is the new European ‘End of Life Vehicle’ legislation that comes in from April 2002, under which a car has to be de-polluted before it goes to scrap. We have a warehouse where we’re experimenting at the moment with suction equipment, and looking for the quickest ways of dealing with the oils and fuel before the cars go to the baler.”
By 2007, complete disassembly lines will be necessary and, given the low scrap value of a car (no more than £20 to the company), it will be difficult to meet the new regulations while still running a worthwhile business. It has to be said, though, that acting in an environmentally responsible way will face the company with no new concept. That is already a central concern. All of our sites have a five metre sleeper wall around them, are concreted, and have oil interceptor tanks,” say Gary Widdowson, “so that any possible contamination is contained within the site. There may be some companies that do the bare minimum, but we take these measures to their fullest extent. We also have a subsidiary company, Total Waste Management Limited, which enables us to handle all of the customer’s paper, wood, oils and scrap under one umbrella. Not that I think that scrap should come under the term ‘waste’. Waste is all cost. But we do offer a complete service, so that the customer doesn’t have to phone round a whole series of different people, and everything possible goes for recycling.” This commitment to sound practices even extends to the appointment of an in-house Environmental Manager, who is available for visits to customers’ sited to review and advise on current waste systems and to help companies in their progress towards ISO14001. It’s all part of a recipe that has helped lead to growth, and the history of Metal & Waste Recycling Ltd (formerly G.D. Metal Recycling) is studded with a series of acquisitions and new ventures, of which Gary Widdowson concentrates on the most recent. “We opened a new purpose built export facility in London last year. It’s a 4.5 acre site with the concrete, drainage and interceptor tanks that most docks don’t have. There’s also a new 2.5 acre site at Deptford, which we’re just preparing at the moment.
Nevertheless, he is confident that the company can continue to help its customers get the very best price for their surplus metal. “We’re basically a service industry in the UK. We’re specialists in finding a manufacturer who has a product, and in finding the best market for him in the foundry sector.” |
