TRS Hooklift mobile Eddy Current Separator installed at Fortis site to further improve quality of Incinerator Bottom Ash (IBA)

Fortis IBA Ltd are pleased to announce that TRS have supplied three “hooklift” mobile Eddy Current separators for the processing and metal separation of IBA at our newest processing facility in Buckinghamshire.

The machines will be set up behind existing mobile Powerscreen sieves, after which all output fractions will be separately processed over the mobile Eddy Current separators. Two machines will handle the “Fines” being the -6 mm and the +6-16mm and one machine will handle the +16-40mm fractions, the “Coarse” material.

By handling each fraction separately, the efficiency of the metal separation will further improve the quality of our IBA Aggregate for use in the construction industry.

Naomi House and Jacksplace Design Cab for New Tipper Lorry

Naomi House & Jacksplace hospices for children and young adults across central southern England, were asked to lend their creative arts and crafts skills to designing some recycling-inspired artwork for one of the trucks.

Children and young adults spent a fun afternoon getting messy with paints, crayons and glue creating some eye-catching art, sure to catch the attention of fellow motorists. After the truck had undergone its Naomi House & Jacksplace makeover, the team from Raymond Brown drove it to the hospices to show the children and young adults.

Billy Fysh, a young adult who has used the Naomi House & Jacksplace services since he was just four years old, made a special trip to Jacksplace as he was excited to see his piece of art in real life on the truck. As a thank you for his contribution, Billy received a goodie-bag from Raymond Brown and even got to have a go in the driver’s seat.

Each child or young adult whose artwork has been added to the truck received a £10 book voucher from Raymond Brown, and Steve Clasby, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, presented Billy with his.

Steve said: “I want to say a huge thank you to Naomi House & Jacksplace for designing our latest Fortis IBA lorry. It is such an honour to have been able to provide this opportunity to them and to support the work they do. Having met the staff, volunteers and some of the children involved in designing the lorry, I am extremely proud to say it is the latest addition to our fleet. Look out for the truck when you are out and about on the roads!”

Arts and crafts activities are a daily occurrence at Naomi House & Jacksplace as they allow children and young adults who may not be able to verbally communicate, to express themselves in other ways. Huw Bromage, Activities Team Leader for Naomi House & Jacksplace has also said: “We were so excited and honoured to be asked to create some artwork for the Raymond Brown truck. The children and young adults absolutely love getting messy with paints, glitter and crayons and they all had great fun creating some recycling-inspired artwork. A thank you also needs to go to the team from Raymond Brown for the £10 book vouchers they gave each child or young adult who contributed to the truck’s new look, they were very much appreciated.”

Naomi House & Jacksplace are hospices based in Winchester for children and young adults with life limiting illnesses from across central southern England. The charity needs to raise £9.2 million every year to be able to offer vital services such as respite care, end of life care and post bereavement care to families who need it most. More information about the charity can be found by visiting: www.naomihouse.org.uk.

Visit to Overton Primary School kick starts Raymond Brown lorry visits to schools across Hampshire

Earlier this year, talented children from Hampshire schools and charities took part in our latest lorry cab design competition.

Hundreds of children sent us their posters based around the theme of recycling and sustainability and our management team selected winning representatives from seven local schools and charities.

The seven new lorries have been signwritten with our Fortis branding and wrapped with the winning children’s designs.  Visits were then organised to each of the schools to show the children their lorries.

The started our lorry tour at Overton Primary School in May, where the entire school had the opportunity to see their lorry and the winners got to sit in the driver’s seat.  Mrs Glynn, teacher at Overton School commented: “It was a great day for the children, thank you for including us in the competition. The children were just so excited about the lorry and it was a great motivator for them!”

Adam Murnieks, Managing Director for Raymond Brown Waste Solutions, attended the event at Overton School and presented the winning children with a goody bag, book voucher and certificate in their recycling themed school assembly.

Adam commented: “The posters that the children designed were of a very high standard and it was very difficult to choose the winners. It was great to see the children so enthusiastic about recycling in the assembly and it was a delight to present them with their awards.”

Fortis IBA holds first CPD event of the year

Fortis offer free Continual Professional Development (CPD) breakfast mornings in Hampshire for those interested in learning about the future of IBA Aggregate, the benefits of utilising secondary aggregate, seeing a facility in action and focusing on the increased use of IBA Aggregate across local infrastructure.

The breakfast morning, held at Fortis’ A303 IBA Processing Facility, consists of a technical presentation from Fortis’ Commercial Manager, Sarah Powell, HSQE Manager, Ben Jacobs and Senior Hydrogeologist, Tim Wilkins, followed by a tour of the facilities and a Q&A session.

The first CPD morning of the year, held at the beginning of April, proved to be a success with customers, with all of them stating they would recommend and encourage the use of IBA Aggregate within their organisation and all customers rating the event either ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’.

One delegate commented that the event was “Very Interesting, with an impressive set up and obviously well thought out”, with another praising the value of “Knowing that full environmental considerations are made and investigated on a site by site basis.”

Due to the success of the first CPD morning and to meet customer demand, more events have been confirmed for later this year.

Fortis featured at Abingdon County Hall Oxfordshire ‘Rubbish!’ Exhibition

Fortis IBA are pleased to announce that the business’ state-of-the-art recycling operations are currently featuring in Oxfordshire’s ‘Rubbish! Past and Future Archaeology’ Exhibition taking place at Abingdon County Hall Museum from April through to June.

The exhibition showcases historic rubbish and how it can demonstrate the daily life and interests of past societies, what happens to today’s rubbish (focussing on energy recovery and IBA processing) and the future of waste.

Fortis were invited to exhibit their recycling process and display samples of the processed Oxfordshire IBA Aggregate and the different metals which are extracted for recycling.

Oxfordshire County Council have stated that “Oxfordshire is one of the best counties in the country at recycling.  All the waste from Oxfordshire’s residents that can’t be recycled is taken to Viridor’s Ardley Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) where it is burnt to produce electricity – enough for about 53,000 homes!

The Incinerator Bottom Ash (IBA) which is generated from the ERF is processed by Fortis IBA Ltd into an aggregate which is used within construction across the county as a sustainable alternative to primary aggregates.  As a country, we are facing a limited availability of natural minerals and the utilisation of secondary aggregates where possible allows us to preserve our natural resources.”

IBA Aggregate used in new £10m Sandy Balls Holiday Park Development

1,000 tonnes of Fortis IBA Aggregate has been used within the new £10m development of holiday lodges at Sandy Balls Holiday Park.

Bergholt Building Services Ltd, who were undertaking the construction work, felt that Fortis IBA Aggregate was more economical and suitable for sub-bases throughout the new development.  As they were using it under areas that were going to be covered in asphalt, it allowed them to maintain the required thickness in line with their budget.

Gary Tomlin,  Director Bergholt Building Services Ltd commented: “Keeping to our budget has been key and Fortis IBA Aggregate is far cheaper than primary aggregate.  I would absolutely recommend it to other businesses.”

You can read more about the project by clicking here to view the full case study.

Fortis IBA Ltd is pleased to welcome Annmarie Read to the business in her new role of Quality Technician

Annmarie has worked within the Raymond Brown Group for the last three years, having been responsible for quality assurance for the Raymond Brown Quarry Products business..

The Quality Technician role is a new position within the Fortis business and has been created to resource the ongoing growth of Fortis IBA Ltd, as well as the demand for IBA Aggregates in the UK.

Working as a key part of the HSQE Team, Annmarie is responsible for the control of IBAA products, product analysis and liaison with external laboratories, externals consultants and key clients.

Lee Thompson, Fortis Managing Director said: “I am delighted that Annmarie has joined the Fortis team, she brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the business. Her focus and drive for quality and compliance, will contribute significantly to the overall success of Fortis IBA Ltd.

Compton and Beedon Schools design posters for new chiltonSkips.com lorries

chiltonSkips.com, part of the Raymond Brown Group, invited both Compton and Beedon Primary Schools to take part in a lorry design competition for two of its newest lorries.

The children from across both schools were invited to take part in the competition by designing posters for the lorries based around the themes of recycling and sustainability.  A number of posters were submitted and the Raymond Brown directors then selected winning designs for each lorry based on their brightly coloured key messages.

On 12 March, the lorries were driven to the schools for an unveiling with the students and their parents and the winners presented with a Raymond Brown goody bag, certificate and a £10 book voucher by Councillor Jeanette Clifford, Executive Member, Transport and Countryside, West Berkshire Council and Jim Skinner from Raymond Brown.  The students were also given the opportunity to sit in their lorry and have their photos taken in it and ask the drivers questions.

Almost all of the Raymond Brown fleet of lorries have been designed by different local schools and both Beedon and Compton Primary Schools were suggested by one of the drivers’ sons, whose artwork now features proudly on the door of his father’s vehicle.

The new Volvo FL250 lorries are the latest in their kind and feature new Multilift Futura Skip Loaders, they will be used to deliver and collect skips across Oxfordshire and West Berkshire.

Alison McDonald, Director of Primaries, commented: “We were very pleased to be part of this project.  It tied in really well with our school environmental week and the children enjoyed researching ideas for their designs.  The children were thrilled to see their designs on the lorries.  Thank you to Raymond Brown for inviting us to decorate their new cabs.”

One of the Year Four students said: “I felt a little nervous at seeing my work for the first time but I was pleased with how bright and colourful it was. I will be looking out for the lorries on the road.”

 

Raymond Brown visit after school club ‘The Roost’ at Nightingale Primary School

Raymond Brown visited pupils from the after school club, The Roost, ran by Integr8 sports, to teach pupils about the importance of recycling and how Raymond Brown staff stay safe when on sites.

The children had the opportunity to try on PPE (personal protective clothing), including safety glasses, hi-vis  clothing and hard hats, whilst Raymond Brown staff explained the importance of being seen on site and how the PPE protects them.

Equipped with some mixed waste, Communications and Marketing Manager, Kerry Hayman, challenged pupils to segregate the rubbish into recyclable waste and non-recyclable waste.  Kerry then explained how non-recyclable waste is incinerated, generating electricity and then how the ash is recycled into an aggregate, which is used to build sub-bases of roads.

Pupils were then put into teams and given a workbook to complete, which included exercises such as a word search and challenging questions about where household rubbish goes.  All children received prizes for their positive suggestions and answers.

Lynda Hardiman-Pearce at Intergr8 Sports commented, “We are always looking for new challenges for our pupils at The Roost.  It was great to hear Raymond Brown employees talk about the importance of recycling and how they keep themselves safe on their sites.  The gifts were a real hit, especially the hard-hat pencil sharpeners!”

3,880 Mixed Broadleaf Trees and Shrubs planted at Brickworth Quarry

The Brickworth Quarry team are in the process of planting around 5,000 mixed broadleaf trees and shrubs as part of the restoration of Round Corpse North.

The 3,880 planted so far consist of Oak, Hornbeam, Sweet Chestnut, Copper Beach, Field Maple, Common Alder, Hazel, Hawthorn and Guelder Rose.

This forms part of the final stages of the restoration of Round Copse North back to broadleaf woodland.