Metal recycling specialist opens new rail-connected site

Metal recycling and waste management specialist Ward has opened a new rail-connected, metal processing site.

The Derbyshire firm has opened the facility in Barking, East London, to help with the movement of bulk material from the south of England its other facilities across the country for processing and onward export.

The site is a long-term partnership with DB Cargo UK and marks the next stage in the expansion of the firm’s bulk metal processing and export capabilities.

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It follows the opening of a new deep seaport facility at Redcar Bulk Terminal earlier this year and a deep-sea dock at Immingham in North Lincolnshire in 2018 with Associated British Ports.

Enabling Ward to move bulk ferrous metal by rail, the Barking site eventually aims to transport a number of trains each month, each carrying over 1,000 tonnes of material on each movement.

It forms part of Ward’s broader sustainability plans to reduce road cargo and handle bulk material to rail wherever feasible to do so.

Operations director Donald Ward said: “Following a pilot exercise in Pinns Wharf, where we were transporting scrap by barge up to Immingham, we established the potential for buying metals from other London-based merchants and cost effectively transporting them via rail to our other sites, for recycling and export.

“We’ve worked with DB Cargo UK to upgrade the site, installing a new weighbridge, radiation detectors, site accommodation facilities, new walls, gates and on-site security.

“We’ve also invested in new equipment, including Liebherr material handlers and a CAT wheel loader.

“At the moment it has created five new jobs, but we are expecting to grow the team further in the coming months.”