Page 16 - Hub-4 Magazine Issue 61

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Viridor and Fortis IBA competition inspires creativity for sustainability
Creativity for sustainability winner
12 lucky Oxfordshire students have learnt about the importance of the message to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle through engaging workshops and an upcycling competition by industry partners, Viridor and Fortis IBA.
The companies joined forces to creatively bring the message of sustainable construction alive to Fritwell Primary School students. They were treated to a fun and interactive day, learning about the journey that non-recyclable waste makes from our homes to be transformed into electricity and how it can contribute to the material used to build roads.
Viridor’s Learning and Visitor Centre Manager, Jessica Baker-Pike, said: “We welcome the opportunity to partner with Fortis IBA, to demonstrate through educational school visits to Ardley ERF, the important message of “Right Stuff, Right Bin”.
“The workshops and competition were a really creative way to inspire young people to begin to think about their environment, and for us to show them how to maximise opportunities to recycle and then put non-recyclable waste to work, creating electricity, roads and many other end-of-waste products.”
The day ended the presentation of a £20 book voucher for the winner of an upcycling competition which had challenged the Fritwell Primary School eco buddies to create a sustainable construction model from anything that would otherwise be considered as rubbish over half term.
Fortis IBA Ltd Communications and Marketing Manager, Kerry Hayman, said: “It is encouraging to see students engaging and asking all the right questions around what happens to their non-recyclable waste.
“Fortis IBA take the ash generated from Ardley ERF and recycle it into FortiStone IBA Aggregate which is used in construction across the county. For every one tonne of the aggregate used, it diverts 400 bags of black bin waste from landfill! In addition to this, the use of IBA Aggregate within Oxfordshire’s construction industry preserves our natural resources. The UK now faces a limited availability of primary aggregates and there is a growing requirement for construction to be more sustainable.
We designed this competition to complement the workshop that we gave about IBA Aggregate, and to inspire the students to think broadly about reprocessing, recycling, and waste as a resource.”
The winning design, which was a fantastic creation of the Ardley ERF by student, Sam, was selected by Cabinet Member for the Environment, Councillor Yvonne Constance.
Fritwell Primary School teacher, Zoe Rowe, said: “The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about how much can be recycled and reused. We’ve come away with lots of ideas to take back to the school and I will be recommending further visits.”
Viridor operates the Ardley Energy Recovery Facility as part of its contract with Oxfordshire County Council. The plant takes 326,300 tonnes of non-recyclable waste each year. It diverts at least 95% of Oxfordshire’s non-recyclable municipal waste away from landfill and generates enough electricity to
power the equivalent of 59,616 homes. Viridor and Fortis IBA have a 15-year partnership that sees around 75,000 tonnes of Fortis IBA aggregate being produced each year in Oxfordshire.
Fortis IBA Ltd is a leading UK incinerator bottom ash (IBA) processor. Their bespoke processing technology sees ferrous and non- ferrous metals recovered from IBA to ensure 100% recycling rates are achieved, and a high-quality secondary aggregate is produced for use in the construction industry to reduce reliance on primary aggregates.
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www.hub-4.com March/April 2020 - Issue 61