How we recycle

At James Heyes & Sons, we offer an extremely fast turn-around for the delivery of any green waste materials at our Mossborough Hall site. We can have you on-site and off again in a matter of minutes thanks to our spacious delivery and sorting area, which is fully covered with tarmac.

The time consuming part is the actual sorting and decomposition process, which is outlined below.

The Recycling Process

	Phase 1 - Green Waste Arrives As the photo suggests, the arrival area is exceptionally wide and fully covered with tarmac. This is beneficial for two reasons; 1. We can handle any size of vehicle, from 40-foot articulated lorries, to small sized vans, as there is a wide turning area and a large automatic weighbridge. 2. As the whole site is covered with tarmac, any vehicle that arrives can be assured that it will leave as clean as it arrived.
	Phase 2 - Green Waste Unloaded 1. As the vehicle arrives, it passes onto our automatic weighbridge. 2. The driver then heads into the office. If they are a return customer, they can simply insert their card into the machine above and move on to the unloading area. New customers will be provided with a card to speed up future deliveries. 3. The vehicle heads on to the unloading area. The adjacent photo shows an example of a small delivery of garden waste. By our standards this is a very small load compared to some of the HGV's which arrive.
	Phase 3 - Green Waste Collected & Sorted Once unloaded, the green waste requires sorting, which removes all plastic and metal objects. To achieve this, the waste is deposited in a long line and our staff will 'walk the line' and remove any non-biodegradable materials.
	Phase 4 - Green Waste Shredded The sorted waste is then passed through the machine represented on the following photos. The waste material is shredded in one direction, then another in an attempt to break it down as much as possible. The photo directly below shows the interior of the shredder and the teeth that break down the green waste. This is powered by a 300 horse power engine so it can shred trees of the largest diameter and physical size.
	Phase 5 - Removal of Metal Items A huge magnet on the conveyor belt of the shredder helps in the removal of any remaining metal objects that may have beeen missed during the manual sorting. Again, this is to ensure that only biodegradable waste goes on to be recycled. As you can see on the photo to the left, this process removes a huge variety of metal objects, from scissors to nails, even to rakes!
	Phase 6 - Waste Collected in Windrows This is the beginning of the green waste recycling process. The shredded materials are collected in long mounds, known as windrows (see photo below). As you can see from the photo to the left, as they decompose, the windrows produce a lot of heat and therefore steam. This is important as it kills the pathogens. The windrows sit side by side and are continually 'rolled over' ensuring that the heat is spread throughout as they decompose.
	Phase 7 - Decomposed Waste Sorted The decomposed waste is then passed into a further machine for sorting. It is turned in a huge barrel, which has 40mm diameter holes in it's base. Anything under 40mm will pass through. This is our resulting compost. Anything over 40mm, which wont pass through, goes back through the decomposition process and becomes part of a new windrow.
	Phase 8 - Leachaid Collected and Re-used Even the waste generated by the decomposition is recycled. The leachaid that runs off as the waste decomposes is collected (see left photo). This is then sprayed over the early, less decomposed, windrows to ensure there is sufficient moisture for decompostion. This wouldn't be possible without the entire recycling area being covered with tarmac and concrete. As you can see on the photo, the ducks like it too!
	Phase 9 - Compost used for agriculture The resulting compost can then be used for agriculture and for helping to grow the grass on which our cattle graze. For more information on what we do with the compost, please click here.