Caerphilly council says recycling plant can expand

Caerphilly County Borough Council granted planning permission to Bryn Recyling on Thursday, November 9, after receiving the application last June.

It will also see an enhanced landscaping bund at Gelliargwellt Uchaf Farm. 

Bryn Recyling say their application took a “landscape-led approach”, with promises to plant more than 35,000 native trees and shrubs as part of the new earthworks.

They say the expanded hard standing area will not lead to more materials or deliveries but will provide the “space and facilities” needed to increase the quality of their work.

Natural Resources Wales noted the site is around 500 metres from Nelson Bog – a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – with an apparent “hydrological” connection between the two.

The developer’s plastic management plans failed to assure the environmental watchdog that plastic would not enter the watercourse which leads into the SSSI.

Alun Price, managing director of Bryn Group, said: “The expanded yard will see an even greater proportion of materials that are sorted on site being returned to use in manufacturing and production processes.

“I’m proud of the role we play in boosting local recycling rates and preventing recyclable materials from unnecessarily being wasted. Our ongoing investment in facilities and technology sees us continue to succeed, which secures more than 100 jobs for local people and allows us to support local community groups and grass-roots sports teams.

“We have taken a long-term view of recycling needs for the county borough, and will continue to invest and improve our operations to help Caerphilly residents and businesses reduce, reuse and recycle as part of Wales’s world-leading circular economy.”

Bryn Recycling is one of four family-run business that trade as part of the Bryn Group which started as a small operation in the 1980s sorting inert building rubble to reclaim old colliery workings across farmland.