A Leominster-based multi-disciplinary design agency has completed its latest recycling plant project – one of its most advanced to date.

Grove Design, which employs eight people at its bespoke offices in Pembridge, has worked in partnership with equipment supplier Lyndex to design and install a £3m dedicated mixed paper sorting operation for Allan Morris Recycling.

Five designers were involved in the contract that took just eight months from initial analysis, feasibility and identifying the technology involved, through to optimising flow through the plant and the successful build of the line.

The aim was to process kerbside collections of fibre, taking out all the different contaminants to produce a product that is clean enough to be used as the sole raw material in the production of new paper.

“This is the eighth recycling plant build we’ve been involved in over the last few years and by far the most significant fibre plant, with a number of challenges to overcome,” explained Austin Owens, founder of Grove Design.

“These included space and height constraints and the desire to integrate the best bespoke and proprietary machinery into the line, such as feed bunkers, OCC separators, overband magnets and three near infrared separators.”

He concluded: “I’m delighted to say the close partnership between my team, Lyndex and the customer helped us achieve a plant that is capable of processing 20 tonnes per hour and achieving the purity levels expected by the end user UPM Shotton.”

Carl Robertson, who left Biffa Waste after 25 years to set up the Allan Morris Recycling plant in 2008, added his support: “Grove Design spent time on site understanding our current operation and how we could maximise the site with new equipment.

“We were very impressed with the detailed approach at every stage of the design and installation, ensuring the project was completed on time and to budget. The line is already doubling our throughput and meeting UPM’s requirement for increased capacity.”

He went on to add: “The other challenge was to continue operating throughout the 13-week installation, which required careful planning and a detailed schedule of work. Austin and his team’s calm and methodical approach meant the end result was never in doubt.”

Grove Design is a multi-disciplinary design consultancy, supporting customers with the development of industrial tools and equipment to automotive transmission systems and waste recycling plants.

It is increasingly supporting manufacturers and innovators with prototyping and the automation of production lines, whilst its design expertise is called upon to work on some of the most intriguing new consumer market products.

The engineering design agency is also a crucial member of the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN), a nine-strong group of sub-contract manufacturers who work together to win orders and share best practice and resource.

The collective, which enjoys more than £75m sales and employs over 800 people, can offer every engineering discipline imaginable, including automation and control systems, casting, fabrication, forging, plastic injection moulding, PCB development, precision machining and high volume pressings.

Its membership includes Alucast, Barkley Plastics, Brandauer, C-MAC SMT, Kimbermills International, Mec Com, Muller Holdings and PP Control & Automation.