£5m Investment By Warwickshire Recycling Business

A £5 million investment by an expanding recycling and waste management company in Warwickshire will lead to massive reductions in carbon emissions.

Fortress Recycling and Resource Management on the Heathcote Industrial Estate in Warwick is the first company to receive a £100,000 grant from the Coventry and Warwickshire Green Business Programme following introductions by the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP Growth Hub.

The business, which is run by brothers David, Robert and Andrew Pass, has invested in a £5 million materials processing facility which means paper, cardboard, glass, plastic and aluminium cans can be sorted and recycled.

This means it will be reducing its CO2 emissions by up to 5,571 tonnes every year which is the equivalent of taking 1,092 cars off the road for a year, meeting the energy use of an average house for 429 years or driving an average car for 24.71 years non-stop.

Twenty new jobs have been created and the new equipment will also lead to cost savings in the disposal costs of materials which in the past the business couldn’t recycle.

David Pass, of Fortress Recycling and Resource Management, said: “This plant is now one of the most advanced material recovery centres in the UK. We recycle non-hazardous business waste and recycle paper, cardboard, glass, aluminium cans, plastic bottles and milk bottles and the new machine will also improve our productivity levels.

“The carbon savings we are making is fantastic and it isn’t just the fact we are recycling materials which usually go to landfill but the savings we are making on raw materials. Items can be recycled so less energy is being used to make new products.

“We used to spend over £2 million a year on disposal costs so we will be making big savings on that as well.”

Jaymie Thakordas, account manager at the CWLEP Growth Hub, said one of the reasons the Growth Hub was launched was to help make businesses aware of the advice and support available to them.

“Securing the grant has enabled Fortress Recycling and Resource Management to make a real difference to their business as well as the environment,” she said.

“The Growth Hub has experts in various fields to help companies access grants and funding to diversify or expand and the result of this new state-of-the-art facility means the business has also opened a second site nearby in Collins Road in Leamington to provide extra storage.”

Fortress Recycling and Resource Management applied for a grant from the Coventry and Warwickshire Green Business Programme which is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund and is being delivered by Coventry City Council, Coventry University and Coventry University Enterprises Ltd. The programme is open to businesses with less than 250 employees based in Coventry and Warwickshire.

Sarah Watson, Green Business Programme Manager, said: “We have been pleased to assist Fortress in successfully obtaining a Low Carbon Innovation grant of £100,000 as part of the Coventry and Warwickshire Green Business Programme.

“The new materials recycling facility will not only result in significant carbon savings and enable resources to be recovered and recycled, but will also create new jobs and develop new business opportunities.

“The carbon savings from the materials processing facility are substantial and the new machine re-enforces the business’s reputation as a carbon neutral company.”

Cllr Noel Butler, Business Portfolio Holder at Warwick District Council, said he was impressed with the scale of Fortress Recycling and Resource Management’s work.

“It is great to see valuable resources not being wasted and instead being reused and recycled,” he said.

“Supporting businesses in Warwick is very important to the District Council since they are the lifeblood of our local economy.”

Caption: From the left, Sarah Watson (Green Business Programme), Cllr Noel Butler (Warwick District Council), David Pass (Fortress Recycling and Resource Management) and Jaymie Thakordas (CWLEP Growth Hub)