Viridor has retained the WEEELABEX accreditation for its cooling process at the St Helens, Merseyside, WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) facility.
Viridor St Helens was the first in the UK to achieve this prestigious certification in 2015 after undergoing an extensive evaluation of its systems and processing of refrigeration treatment.
Tom Liddell, Viridor’s Head of Recycling & Integrated Assets WEEE, said: “This accreditation shows the efforts and investment the WEEE business is making in driving higher standards within the industry and with recycling and recovery rates.
These standards are continually reviewed and for the most recent audit Viridor worked with technology partners Andritz and Herco to achieve even higher recovery levels of the air-polluting blowing agents used in fridge manufacture.”
Laura Rattigan, Viridor St Helens Unit Manager, said: “All the staff have contributed a real team effort throughout the auditing process and we are pleased we can continue to offer a WEEELABEX cooling service not only to our customers in the Republic of Ireland but to our producer compliance schemes and future customers who value increased compliance and recycling and recovery rates.”
Laura Rattigan, Viridor St Helens Unit Manager – “All the staff have contributed a real team effort throughout the auditing process and we are pleased we can continue to offer a WEEELABEX cooling service not only to our customers in the Republic of Ireland but to our producer compliance schemes and future customers who value increased compliance and recycling and recovery rates.”
The approved authorised treatment facility (AATF) originally opted to pursue accreditation to support a long-standing partnership with KMK Metals Recycling Ltd in the Republic of Ireland.
Kurt Kyck, of KMK, said: “We have been supplying fridges in large quantities from Ireland to the Viridor recycling plant in St Helens since 2003. Operating to this standard is a statement of intent and provides producers of cooling appliances with the comfort that their environmental responsibility under the WEEE Directive is being achieved and measured.”
Tom explained that all European countries were mandated to meet the WEEE Directive which sets targets for the collection, recycling and recovery for all types of electrical goods.
He said: “To ensure that these targets are being achieved in an environmentally sound manner, many advanced European economies, including Ireland, mandate that WEEE processing facilities achieve WEEELABEX accreditation. Achievement of this independently audited accreditation demonstrates that the facility meets exacting standards of performance for the collection, sorting, storage, transportation and treatment for different types of WEEE.”
Wayne Copley, Procurement Director of the UK’s largest WEEE producer compliance scheme REPIC, understands the WEEELABEX auditing is a rigorous process following the flow of inputs and outputs through the WEEE treatment and beyond to downstream treatment and recycling.
He said: “Viridor continues to play a significant role in the UK WEEE reprocessing sector and this shows it is keeping pace with the quality expectations of UK and multi-national clients who want to see WEEE dealt with effectively, efficiently and sustainably. Viridor has done very well to secure the latest WEEELABEX quality approval, it’s great news for Viridor and good news for the UK WEEE recycling sector too.”