A closer look at the new £32 million household recycling centre, which is being built in Aldridge.
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00:00So Daniel Watt with the Express and Star, we're here on Middlemore Lane in Walsall
00:04where we're standing in the new £32 million state-of-the-art recycling facility,
00:10recycling and rubbish facility.
00:11So what we're standing in here, if you want to take a quick look around,
00:14is the main hub where the council and contractor-owned vehicles will come in,
00:19get rid of the waste.
00:20So we've just spoken to Councillor Kerry Murphy
00:26who said that around about over here just in the corner past the cherry picker,
00:31in the far corner down there, you'd be able to fit pretty much the entirety
00:36of the Friars Road tip that's currently there, the Friars Road Recycling Centre.
00:42So we're around here just taking a walk around to have a look around.
00:45It's £32 million investment that's gone into this construction.
00:50They hope that when it's completed, which they said they hope it's going to be done
00:54by around about December or just prior to December,
00:57that it's going to help alleviate a lot of troubles that the council's having
01:00at the moment, say, with landfill, with obviously fly tipping as well.
01:05So this is also going to contain an upcycling centre as well,
01:09which we've been talking about previously,
01:11which will mean that a lot of the items that do get put into here
01:14will be upcycled by a local group, which will also hire apprentices.
01:20Then also make it back onto the streets where people can pay a heavily reduced price
01:25for pretty much what is as good as new.
01:27So yeah, we're going to go around.
01:28We're going to talk to the councillors later on as well
01:29to get an update on how it's going.
01:32But yeah, stick up to date and have a look around with us.
01:35Yes, we're here with councillor Adrian Andrew and obviously councillor Kerry Murphy.
01:38Well, hello both of you.
01:39So what are we down here to do today?
01:40We're here to show you, obviously, the new build,
01:43which is going to be the HWR, say, for Aldridge, Brown Hills and the rest of Walsall,
01:51but obviously mainly on the east side of the borough, I think, isn't it?
01:54At the moment, Blocksbridge, I suppose.
01:56That's fantastic.
01:57So we've already walked through a bit of the site already.
01:59One of the parts I walked through was the sort of upcycling part,
02:02the upcycling part, the upcycling centre,
02:03which is a first of its kind, I believe, in the area.
02:06Yeah.
02:07That's right, isn't it?
02:07It is, yes, yeah.
02:08It's a new area that we're focusing on
02:12to stop things going to, obviously, landfill now,
02:15such as big items like mordraves, drawers, etc.
02:20And it'll help, obviously, start people who are in no harms, etc.
02:25They'll be able to come and upcycle these and use them for starter harms,
02:29which is good for the environment and good for people's pockets, basically.
02:33Absolutely fantastic.
02:33So it's obviously going to be sold on, isn't it?
02:36It's going to be sort of sold on, isn't it?
02:37But it's going to be, well, I think you said, like a reduced product, like a heavily reduced price.
02:40Yeah, it will be sold on and we'll be expecting and hoping that people,
02:45when they come to the tip and they've got a wardrobe or they've got a set of drawers,
02:48instead of putting it in the skip, they can actually drop it off at the reuse place
02:52and then it'll be sold on and put back into the economy
02:56and have a new lease of life, which I think everybody would love to have.
03:00Absolutely, yeah, definitely, definitely myself included.
03:03So obviously one of the big things that we're hoping that this will help is fly tipping,
03:08which is sometimes these type of items that you might find in an upcycling centre.
03:12It's something that's going to try and help reduce that sort of...
03:15We're doing everything we can in terms of reducing fly tipping.
03:18The reuse centre will help, our trade waste will help.
03:23And building this state-of-the-art facility, we're investing in the future.
03:27So, you know, household waste and recycling will come to this site
03:30and also people will be able to bring their own waste from their gardens,
03:34from their houses and whatever, to this site as well
03:36in order to dispose of it in an environmentally friendly way.
03:41Absolutely, yeah.
03:41So as for the trade waste items,
03:43because it's going to be small trade waste, isn't it?
03:46Is it going to be small trade waste?
03:47So with that, is that going to be...
03:49That's going to be accessible to anyone to pass trade waste in there,
03:54obviously to stop it from going back onto the street, I suppose.
03:56I think that'll be offered to small traders,
04:00man with a van, et cetera,
04:01and particularly to Walsall people, people who are working in Walsall.
04:05There will be a charge for that service,
04:08but that will be a unique offer within the immediate area.
04:15So as for the opening date,
04:17obviously there's a lot of work going on for it.
04:20We're hoping it's ported for, I believe, before December, is that right?
04:24That's right, yeah.
04:25We think the completion will be sort of towards the end of August,
04:29but obviously we've got to put things in place,
04:31so we're helping just November, December,
04:34to look at actually opening it into the public.
04:36Absolutely, but obviously works are works.
04:38Yeah.
04:39Obviously, yes.
04:40So we're looking at...
04:41It's 32 million is the number that we've got
04:44for how much the investment's going to the site.
04:46I mean, it's going to be...
04:47It's a lot coming for such a return, isn't it?
04:50For such an investment.
04:51If you put that into the context
04:53that this site should last for 50 years
04:55and serve hundreds of thousands of people
04:58within the borough for the next 50 years,
05:01you know, that's not such a big number
05:04when you put it into that context.
05:05That includes the purchase of the land.
05:07That includes the build.
05:10You know, when we're making this environmentally friendly,
05:11it's going to be powered with solar panels.
05:14So that's the kind of thing that we're investing in in Walsall
05:17to make our place cleaner, greener, safer and stronger.
05:21And I think the other thing is we are investing in the future.
05:24You know, the corporate social responsibility
05:27that has been achieved and sort of generated from this site
05:31is incredible.
05:33And the speed in which this development has gone up
05:36has been absolutely incredible.
05:38And Morgansin have been an incredible organisation to work with.
05:42Fantastic.
05:43I was just going to add, I don't know, we've had obviously...
05:45Absolutely, absolutely.
05:46They've used 365 apprentices from Warsaw.
05:49The gates, the big doors are being used by a local company
05:55here in Aldridge.
05:56So it's been great for the economy as well.
05:57This build, it's been amazing.
06:00And using young people, getting them into the building trade.
06:03I think this is fantastic for Walsall and its residents,
06:07obviously economy-wise and for the future.
06:12Absolutely.
06:12And there is a question about, obviously,
06:13the Friars Road and Merchants Way.
06:16You know, will they...
06:17Because I think we said that Merchants Way
06:19will perhaps eventually be phased out.
06:22It will, yeah.
06:23So we're now looking to do a new build on Friars Road
06:27because that's extremely old like this
06:30and it doesn't make for regulations anymore.
06:33So that will obviously have to shut down for a while.
06:36But this will be up and running
06:37and we will keep Merchants Way
06:39and make sure that everything's still running smoothly.
06:42Then we can start on Friars Road as our next project.
06:45Oh, fantastic.
06:46So all in all...
06:47Positive.
06:48Positive.
06:49Very much on track.