Firefighters in Shropshire spent yesterday attending a waste fire engulfing 100 tonnes of plastic waste that was waiting to be recycled at Ellesmere Sand & Gravel Co Ltd in Ellesmere, Shropshire.
Shropshire Fire & Rescue received a call at around 10.32am on Monday (28 March) alerting it to the fire. Firefighters from Baschurch, Ellesmere, Prees, Wem and Whitchurch as well as the Environment Agency were called to the site, run by the subsidiary of the Tudor Griffiths Group, which runs a materials recycling facility at the Wood Lane site.
The crews turned over and damped down the pile of waste, and the fire was confirmed as out at 3.43pm the same day.
Jon Temple, Shropshire Fire and Rescue station manager based in Shrewsbury, told the Shropshire Star: "We had 40 firefighters, three officers and five appliances on the scene. It took about three hours to get it under control.
"When we got there we were faced with mainly smoke rather than flames. There were some flames at the top of the pile. There was no damage to the building other than smoke. The building, which was made of concrete and steel, was fully smoke logged."
"When we got there individuals were around the site but they were not actually working in the building itself."
An investigation is being carried out into how the fire was started.
Tests seeking to increase understanding of waste fires
The Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA), along with the London Fire Brigade, Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) Forum, Wood Recyclers Association (WRA), Environment Agency (EA) and Environmental Services Association (ESA), has been conducting tests to provide up-to-date scientific data about the flammable properties of recyclable materials and other wastes stores on waste recycling sites.
The CFoA, says that, with the ever changing nature of wastes and waste handling methods, it is important to update knowledge of how these materials burn and how best to extinguish fires.
The trend of waste fires over the last 10 years has remained consistent at around 250 incidents per year, according to figures from the CFOA; the figures also show that more recently there have been a number of large-scale protracted incidents that have caused significant disruption to the fire service and local community. The cost to the fire and rescue services is estimated to be in the region of £16 million a year.
Results from the tests will be used to inform updated guidance on stack sizes and separation distances for the waste industry, with the aim of reducing the spread and severity of these fires. The results will also determine whether the EA makes changes to its permits for waste sites, so as to reduce the incidence of fires at these premises.
Get our weekly digest
resource.co article ai
How will the government and DMOs address the challenges of including glass in DRS while ensuring a level playing field across the UK?
There's no easy solution to include glass in the DRS while maintaining a level playing field. Potential approaches include a phased introduction of glass, potentially with higher deposits to reflect its logistical challenges. The government and DMOs could incentivise innovation in glass packaging design and subsidise dedicated return points for glass-handling. Exemptions for smaller businesses unable to handle glass might also be necessary. Any successful solution will likely blend several approaches. It must address the differing priorities of devolved administrations, balance environmental benefits with logistical and cost implications, and be supported by robust consumer education campaigns emphasizing the importance of glass recycling.