Downwell Demolition wins Recycling Contract of the Year award

For the CRA’s first annual award scheme, submissions were invited in a variety of categories with the Recycling Contract of the Year being one of the most fiercely contested.

Downwell Demolition has won the Construction Recycling Alliance’s (CRA) prestigious ‘Recycling Contract of the Year’ award. The company’s impressive recycling performance whilst demolishing at number of structures at the famous Leavesden film studios formed the basis of its successful entry.

Downwell Demolition’s successful entry focused solely on its six month contract at Warner Brothers’ Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire. The project entailed stripping-out and dismantling the world-famous studio buildings where the entire series of Harry Potter films together with the James Bond film Goldeneye were produced. A total of seven stage set buildings were stripped of their ceilings, roofs and existing sound-proofing to allow the creation of new structures that can be used to produce forthcoming blockbuster movies.

Downwell Demolition was able to demonstrate high levels of reuse and recycling whilst carrying out the various activities during the project, which included dismantling the scaffold framework housed in the high ceilings of the film sets, thus allowing it to be reused elsewhere on site. The company also successfully completed the crushing, screening and stockpiling of 20,000m3 of concrete rubble on-site so as to allow the material to be reused during the facility’s redevelopment. Other material such as wood, scrap metal and plastics were segregated and recycled at dedicated facilities thus ensuring a recycling rate in excess of 97%.

Commenting on Downwell Demolition’s success company director Matt Philips remarked, “I am really pleased to accept this prestigious award on behalf of all the entire Downwell team. The Leavesden project was challenging in many respects and our team of operatives and labourers not only worked hard on completing what was asked of them on time and on budget but also excelled at reusing and recycling waste materials arising from the work. The award also acknowledges Downwell Demolition’s on-going investment in recycling equipment with our latest machine, a Scavik jaw crusher, used to good effect throughout the project.

Director of the CRA, David Barnes, summarised Downwell Demolition’s success, “Downwell is one of the demolition industry’s up and coming companies, so it was reassuring to see their commitment and determination in reusing and recycling as much of the material on site as possible. The company fought off some strong competition to win this award and they should be justifiably proud of their success”.