Event
St. Louis, Missouri
25 - 27 Mar 2025
AGG1 2025
New state-of-the-art facility in Scotland’s central belt is now fully operational
Brewster Bros, a family-run business in Livingston, is officially launching the largest C&D waste recycling plant in the UK. The plant, featuring a CDE state-of-the-art wet processing system, will provide waste management services and recycled aggregates to builders, construction companies, ground workers, civil contractors and utility contractors from its new high-tech facility in Scotland’s central belt.
The recycling centre includes state-of-the-art CDE C&D waste recycling equipment, with a capacity to recycle 400,000 tonnes of construction, demolition and excavation waste per year. In line with the Scottish Government’s Circular Economy Strategy ‘Making Things Last’, the plant can process and recycle soils and rubble collected by Brewster Bros’ fleet of tipper lorries from construction sites into high-value sand and gravel - reducing waste disposal costs for Brewster Bros’ customers while maximising waste recovery. The waste collected is not subject to landfill tax and the recycled aggregates produced are not subject to the aggregates levy which enables the business to keep its prices competitive.
The CDE wet processing system was specifically designed to process difficult construction and demolition waste materials and optimise material recovery. The plant is fed by an R2500 primary screening unit, which scalps off the oversized +100mm material. The remaining material enters the M4500 modular washing plant which feeds, screens, washes and stockpiles on one compact chassis. The M4500 produces two washed aggregates (4-40mm and40-80mm) and two sands (0-4mm and 0-2mm). The 4-40mm material passes to the AggMax 253R which is ideally suited to ensure maximum product yield from clay-bound materials. Three scrubbed recycled aggregates are produced: 4-10mm, 10-20mm and 20 – 40mm. The plant also includes sliding dual sand conveyors which will give Brewster Bros the flexibility to blend sand to meet any specific grading requirements.
To increase efficiency, the plant incorporates a full water and sludge management system including an AquaCycle A600 thickener which, in combination with the CF8000 centrifuge, ensures 90% of water can be recirculated for immediate reuse in the plant, reducing the need for fresh top up water to a minimum.
David Kinloch, CDE Regional Manager UK & Ireland, said:
“I am delighted to have had the opportunity to work with Brewster Bros to create a construction, demolition, and excavation waste recycling plant bespoke to their site and production requirements.
This large-scale facility incorporates the latest CDE technology and will be a flagship project in Scotland. We wish Brewsters every success as they champion the move towards zero waste and embrace the circular economy and look forward to a continued strong partnership in the years to come.”
Due to its Quality Management Systems, Brewster Bros’ is an accredited supplier of Zero Waste Scotland’s Aggregate Quality Protocol Directory (visit zwsaggsuppliers.org.uk to find out more). Its facility responds to the ever-changing recycling landscape and supports the Scottish Government’s aim of securing 70% recycling of construction and demolition waste by 2020.
The company takes over from an established family-run recycling business, Henry Gillies. Thanks to increased investment, Brewster Bros forecasts an annual turnover of £3m at the plant, which will boost the local economy and provide further job opportunities on top of all 20 job roles retained from the previous owner.
Scott Brewster, Director at Brewster Bros, said:
“It’s an exciting day as we officially launch the UK’s largest recycling facility of this type. Our number one aim is to treat and recycle construction and demolition waste as a resource, ensuring zero waste to landfill.
“Through significant investment into state-of-the-art recycling techniques provided by the plant supplier CDE, we are looking forward to shaping the future of the recycling industry across Scotland and beyond. This new plant should act as a game-changer for the construction industry, by saving money for our customers and ensuring they can dispose of their construction and demolition waste in a sustainable manner.”
Stephen Boyle from Zero Waste Scotland said:
"In Scotland, the construction sector is responsible for producing nearly half of the country's waste and recycling construction and demolition material has a key role to play in minimising that. By recycling, we can keep materials out of landfill and in high-value use for longer, reducing the need to quarry finite virgin material and helping the environment. But what the launch of the Brewster Bros recycling plant shows is that by recycling effectively we can also generate investment and create new jobs, which is great news for Scotland.”
All recycled materials from the plant will come with a UKAS accredited quality certification and conform to the requirements for the BREEAM Sustainability Assessment Method for Construction.
