Out with the old

“Reduce, reuse, recycle” is a well-worn mantra these days, and we’re all well-trained to separate and bag up our paper, plastics and glass once a fortnight. But you’d need some pretty big bags to deal with the stuff that comes through the Truro Recycling scrapyard, tucked away towards the far end of Newham Road.

 

Think giant steel cable reels that once held heavy duty power lines, now being chopped to bits by an industrial shear. At the time of writing, a 180-tonne transformer was due to arrive by barge, to be assembled in the yard before being delivered by police escort to Indian Queens power plant. 

Then there are the more standard jobs: boat breaking, car crushing. Most items are broken down and shipped elsewhere to be recycled.

 

When I arrive in my trusty old Toyota Yaris, I wonder if I should stick a note in the window saying “NOT FOR DISPOSAL”. I needn’t have worried – when the first rain in weeks comes cascading down, Robert Drew sticks his head round the office door: “You’ve left your passenger window open, love.” 

 

Such care is testament to the family nature of the business. Robert started out in the industry at an early age, working through the years when boats would bring tonnes of scrap up the river for offloading (now consigned to history by silting). His own son Roman joined the business first as a Saturday job, then as a post-school stopgap which turned into something more permanent.

 

At 24, Roman is now the 21st century face of the business, the essential back-room brains that enables his dad to concentrate on being in the yard - which he loves. “No two days are the same,” says Robert. “I’m outdoors in all weathers. Sometimes we go out and work in situ.”

 

Roman doesn’t underestimate his own worth. “It’s 50/50 split between yard and office. They can’t do what they do outside without what I do inside,” he says, confidently.

 

He’s a font of knowledge about his field, full of facts and figures – did you know recycling aluminium saves 95% of the energy used to extract the raw material from its ore? – and has also brought systems and processes bang up to date. The modern scrapyard is governed by rules and regulations, from health and safety to environmental standards, all of which require box ticking, permits and rigorous online record keeping. Roman recently launched a software platform that creates a digital footprint for every item that comes through the yard, offering proof of responsible disposal.

 

For a comparative youngster, Roman has plenty of views both on the industry and attitudes towards recycling. “I’m especially interested in stuff that’s more challenging to recycle, meaning no one wants to do it,” he says. “The prospect of finding solutions excites me. It nearly always comes down to finance – if it costs more to recycle than it does to produce something new, then people won’t do it.”

 

He adds that most items simply are not made with recycling in mind: the microwave that’s 60% plastic; the chair that separates out into textiles, foam, wood and metal; the clothing with polyester labels. Even a car has to be broken down into its individual components – battery, tyres, engine etc, all of which will be recycled separately – before the body can be crushed and shipped for meltdown abroad. 

 

Turning waste into new materials is a billion-pound industry. “It often overlooked as a dirty job – no one at school aspires to work in a scrapyard. But people in this industry are paid better than many with university degrees.” 

 

If you want to know more, check out Roman’s social media feeds @recyclewithroman, where he aims to educate the outside world on what happens to unwanted items once you’ve left them behind, not only in Truro but at sites around the UK, including a solar panel recycling facility at Dartford, Kent. 

 

“Not only is it fun to watch, it also in drums up business,” he says. “I have a reach of 1m a month across social channels, with most referrals coming from TikTok.” 

 

Truro Recycling, Newham Road, TR1 2SU. Tel 01872 272393, www.trurorecycling.co.uk