Metal recycling specialist opens new rail-connected site in Barking

Derbyshire-based metal recycling and waste management specialist, Ward, has opened a new rail connected, metal processing site in Barking, East London. It will facilitate the movement of bulk material from the south of England to its other facilities across the country for processing and onward export.

The site in Barking is a long-term partnership with DB Cargo UK and marks the next stage in the expansion of the firm’s bulk metal processing and export capabilities. It follows the opening of a new deep sea port facility at Redcar Bulk Terminal earlier this year and a deep sea dock at Immingham in North Lincolnshire in 2018 with Associated British Ports.

Enabling Ward to move bulk ferrous metal by rail, the site eventually aims to transport a number of trains each month, each carrying over 1,000 tonnes of material on each movement. It forms part of Ward’s broader sustainability plans to reduce road cargo and handle bulk material to rail wherever feasible to do so.

Donald Ward, Operations Director at Ward, said: “Following a pilot exercise in Pinns Wharf, where we were transporting scrap by barge up to Immingham, we established the potential for buying metals from other London-based merchants and cost effectively transporting them via rail to our other sites, for recycling and export.

“We’ve worked with DB Cargo UK to upgrade the site, installing a new weighbridge, radiation detectors, site accommodation facilities, new walls, gates and on-site security. We’ve also invested in new equipment including Liebherr material handlers and a CAT wheel loader. At the moment it has created five new jobs, but we are expecting to grow the team further in the coming months.”

DB Cargo UK provides freight, infrastructure and passenger charter trains throughout the UK, and freight services to and from mainland Europe via the Channel Tunnel. It also provides traction and train crew for scheduled passenger operators.

Roger Neary, Head of Sales at DB Cargo UK, said: “We’re really pleased to extend our ongoing partnership with Ward with the new facility at Barking. This is great example of how we work with our customers to achieve safe, sustainable and innovative rail logistics solutions linking their supply chains to domestic and European markets through our network, service and people excellence.”

Multi-award winning Ward is an independently owned fourth-generation family business. Investment in the new Barking site complements Ward’s existing metal processing and recycling facilities across the Midlands, Teeside and Lincolnshire, enabling the metals specialist to transport various grades of ferrous metal for onward recycling.