Tipner waste facility reopens following extensive rebuild

TJ Waste’s Tipner Materials Recovery Facility resumed business today following an extensive rebuild. We are welcoming commercial customers back on-site for third party tipping, with the same procedures in place as prior to the fire.

The waste sorting facility was devastated last July when a fire ripped through the building, causing substantial damage. It is thought that the fire was caused by an incorrectly discarded lithium-ion battery igniting in our warehouse. The disposal of lithium batteries is strictly prohibited in our skips and our third party tipping service. 

While much of the building was destroyed by the fire, the frame itself remained sound, providing a great starting point for us to build upon. The building’s substructure needed replacing in its entirety – from the walls and insulation, to electrics, pipes and roof.

We utilised the services of Roofing, Cladding & Building Ltd – who have been a skip and RORO hire customer of ours for around five years – to get the building work done. They installed new purlins, roof, cladding and drainpipes to restore the building to an operational standard.

The restoration work led to the installation of a number of new facilities, which will result in an improved service to our customers and enhanced safety. These include:

• Improved weighbridge facilities, providing a more efficient service
• Improved layout and bay storage space for safe tipping and loading of waste
• More advanced processing plant
• ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) camera system, which should result in faster service for regular or repeat customers
• Advanced heat and fire detection system with thermal cameras
• Patented E-Crate battery storage to minimise the risk of future fire incidents (as part of the pilot trial we are participating in)

We have taken a proactive approach in the aftermath of the fire, teaming up with Barnbrook Systems, a global engineering solutions company, and Flair, a technology innovator, who have developed an innovative E-bag system, which they believe could effectively reduce the risk of battery fires within recycling centres.

The E-bag system, which was originally designed for aviation, utilises nanotechnology to create its temperature-sensitive smart fabric. The E-bag’s smart fabric smothers the battery or device by cutting off air, ensuring efficient fire suppression. It safely isolates overheating, smoking or burning batteries, or their parent devices, and prevents ignition.

Barnbrook’s BlueCube© technology will monitor the E-bag’s interior, providing live readings of temperature and humidity. This allows suspect devices to be placed inside as a precaution, tracked during extinguishing, and monitored until safe removal.

We are taking part in a pilot trial of the E-bag, which is commencing today as our facility reopens. The trial will equip TJ operatives with the purpose-made, portable E-bags in which they can place suspect or hazardous devices. Once the bag is zipped up, it can be safely taken outside for processing. There will also be a large sack into which bigger batteries or devices can be placed before being removed by a disposal company.

Find out more about the services we offer, including third party tipping and skip hire. You can also read more about the E-bag pilot trial, and keep your eye on our social channels for updates on this also.