GBN (South Yorkshire) Ltd

The Green Business Network's (GBN) Integrated Recycling facility in Sheffield - GBN (South Yorkshire) Ltd was a closed loop system encompassing the largest social composting operation in the UK and a plastics reprocessing and assembly facility. The facility opened its doors to receive waste materials for re-processing late in 2004 and directly increased the volumes of waste materials diverted from landfill by 25,000 tonnes per year. Unfortunately the facility was forced to close late in 2006 when Outokumpu shut the majority of the rest of the site, including the area where the composting and plastics recycling facilities were based.

The ability of a community organisation to establish a commercial size, social enterprise operation without the overhead of rent is something that is both innovative and unique on this scale. It is a demonstration of sustainable development in action. GBN (South Yorkshire) Ltd, an independent not for profit company limited by guarantee was set up to manage the facility.

The company had a composting operation and plastic reprocessing facility and took in waste wood, cardboard, sludges, green waste and mixed polymer plastics.

The control room and one of two giant shredders in the composting area

The composting operation took organic materials. These are composted into two grades of compost. The high grade compost was used as a growing medium at another GBN project at Caldervale in Wakefield, The ABLE project. The majority of the low grade compost was purchased by Yorkshire Water.

The plastic reprocessing facility took in mixed polymer waste plastics and reprocessed these into a wide range of products, including flat plate and coil carriers for on-site use by Outokumpu. A range of recycled plastic garden furniture, recycled plastic groundblocks, and recycled plastic profiles was also produced.

Recycled plastic bench embellished with stainless steel from Outokumpu

To see a 360 ° virtual tour of the composting area, please click here . To see a tour of the plastic reprocessing area, please click here .

Part of the plastic recycling area at GBN (South Yorkshire) Ltd

Funding from Yorkshire Forward, ERDF Objective 1, Biffaward and the Legacy Fund, the provision of the building from Outokumpu and the drive and determination of the Project Manager, Graham Wiles all helped turn an idea into reality. It is a clear demonstration of the symbiosis that may be achieved when the Public, Private and Voluntary sectors join together with a common aim. Not only did the project reduce volumes of waste to landfill, but also contributed to a reduction in CO2 emissions, reduced waste disposal costs for businesses and created opportunities for disadvantaged people.

The project had the following innovative elements:

• Mixed plastic waste from Outokumpu and the industrial waste stream were recycled to produce high quality pallets and carriers for use by Outokumpu.
• Organic waste from Outokumpu and the domestic waste stream was recycled to produce compost for use by Outokumpu.
• Collaboration between a large private sector company donating buildings and facilities to a community enterprise to form a social business.
• The advanced bio-technology used in the composting was unique in the UK and ensured the production of high quality compost.
• The entire building was converted into an ‘in-vessel' composting system using negative pressure and a bio-filtration system.

Much of the environmental management and quality assurance systems used are based upon IT and radio telemetry and there was also an on-site laboratory. This gave the opportunity for staff to learn skills that allowed them to move into the mainstream labour market.