Licensed MRF
In 2001, MacNabb Bros Waste Management Ltd purchased a large redundant site on the outskirts of Downpatrick for use as a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF). This 5 and a ½ acre site encompasses 56,000 sq feet of undercover operating space plus a secure outside vehicle and skip storage area.
The site is secured by concrete walls, high level fencing, a fitted Alarm System and 24 hour CCTV surveillance.
All non-domestic waste collected by Mac Nabb Bros (Waste Disposal) Ltd in our fleet of trucks and skip lorries is transported to our Materials Recycling Facility at Killough to be processed. Once the waste is tipped into the covered stockpiling area, a dedicated team of waste operatives set about segregating the larger dry recyclables such as cardboard, wood (treated and non-treated), paper, and plastics, as well as the ferrous and non ferrous metals and green waste. Large pieces of aggregate are also separated out at this stage.
The remaining waste is then loaded into our state-of-the-art Trommel’s large capacity hopper. This is then tromelled and screen separated by the machine and conveyed through a picking station for final sorting (by another team of waste operatives), and thence into various skips. Fines, rubble, timber, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, board and paper all fall into separate concrete bays beneath the conveyor line. The Trommel and picking station has been installed at high level in a specially designed and built covered structure which not only allows all-weather operation, but also reduces noise and dust levels, the latter being reduced further by dust suppression systems.
After processing and separating, up to 85% of the total materials are reused: Fines (also known as heavies) make a great soil supplement (our Fines have passed WAC requirements) and can also be used for such things as a covering material in landfill facilities, the timber is fragmentised and chipped using our Willibald shredder for landscaping and bedding products as well as for use as fuel in biomass boiler systems; cardboard, and paper is baled and transported on to paper processors for pulp (Mac Nabb Bros Waste Management operate a large Excel Baler we had shipped in from the United States capable of baling in excess of 750 kilo bales); plastic sheeting is also baled and sent on for reuse; alloys and ferrous metals go on to the metal recycling yards; and rubble is crushed, screened and cleaned for use amongst other things as hard fill or in site drainage systems.
Our site is fully licensed and compliant with Northern Ireland Environment Agency requirements for waste management facilities.