BREWSTER Brothers has fully opened the company’s second recycling plant as part of a £7 million expansion.
The firm’s wash plants transform excavated soils and rubble they process from the construction industry into high-value aggregates for reuse.
Over the past six years at its first site near Livingston, Brewster Brothers has prevented almost 1.35 million tonnes of construction, demolition and excavation (CDE) waste going to landfill. In the process, the business has created more than a1 million tonnes of recycled aggregates to sell into the industry.
A second recycling site has now fully opened as part of a move to regenerate the old Gartshore Works near Cumbernauld. The new wash plant is capable of recycling a further 300,000 tonnes of CDE waste per year for re-use in the building trade.
The plant will serve construction sites, housing and utilities developments in the western central belt. The first plant near Livingston, which currently employs 39 people, will continue to provide waste management services and recycled aggregates to businesses in Edinburgh, Fife and the Lothians.
As part of Brewster Brothers’ redevelopment of the derelict Gartshore Works, the firm has recruited new members of staff supported by Scottish Enterprise’s Green Jobs Fund. The company said it will also recycle the old bing of colliery waste on the site, and the area will be turned into a country park for the local community, helping to promote biodiversity as well as provide new recreational space.
MD Scott Brewster set up the resource management business in 2017 alongside his father, Alex Brewster.
He said, “It’s increasingly clear that the construction sector in Scotland appreciates the need to reduce the amount of natural resources that the industry uses and the amount of carbon it emits while increasing use of recycled and secondary materials. The volume of construction, demolition and excavation waste that’s been recycled over the last six years has grown enormously, and our investment into this second site demonstrates that there’s room for a further expansion in this area.
“Following the opening of our new plant near Cumbernauld, we will be able to service 44% of Scottish construction projects, while keeping the carbon footprint of our own operations to a minimum. We are a business dedicated to sustainable resource management, and want to work in partnership with contractors to help them reach their sustainability goals.
“Scotland has big ambitions for transitioning to a circular economy, and the government plans to bring in a new devolved aggregates tax that should accelerate the shift away from the use of virgin products. Brewster Brothers’ intent is to bring an innovative and pragmatic approach to working with a sector that is one of the country’s biggest generators of waste to improve environmental practice and raise awareness of the sustainable options available.”
