NEWS
Innovation - The ReNEW ELP plant on the Wilton International site will soon enter its commissioning stage .
A HIVE OF ACTIVITY
Science and nature working hard to preserve the planet
Wilton Centre scientists and engineers – and the small matter of a quarter of a million bees - are doing their best to preserve the planet .
The centre has recently been the focus of a major recruitment campaign to select a team to operate a global-first recycling plant . It will handle items such as plastic films , pots , tubs and trays which until now have been considered unrecyclable .
While outside in the Wilton Centre grounds – a green oasis within one of Europe ’ s most concentrated industrial areas – an apiary is thriving , with the occupants of four hives busy pollinating trees and flowers as well as producing high-quality honey .
Around 700 people applied for 30 operational roles with Stockton-based px Group which was chosen by Wilton Centre occupier ReNew ELP to run and maintain its plant .
The plant will soon enter its commissioning stage and become the first in the world , on a commercial scale , to use a specially-developed process called HydroPRS . It returns waste plastics into the oils from which they were originally formed . They are then used to manufacture new plastics and other products . There is no limit to the number of times the same plastic can be recycled .
Antony Myrddin-Baker , px Group plant manager , said : “ We chose to recruit at the Wilton Centre because of the proximity of ReNew ELP and the new plant , but also because it is very much at the hub of new circular economies being developed in Teesside .”
ReNew ELP moved to the Wilton Centre five years ago . The business is now wholly owned by UK-based HydroPRS owner Mura Technology . It employs more than 60 staff , including those dedicated to the Wilton project , and has brought £ 150m investment into the UK .
In 2020 , ReNew ELP was awarded a £ 4.42m grant from Innovate UK – the UK ’ s innovation agency – to help build the plant .
Richard Daley , Mura Technology ’ s chief technology officer and managing director at ReNew ELP , looked forward to the start of operations .
“ There will be a huge feeling of achievement from all members of our team and appreciation of the role that px , as well as the Wilton Centre , have played in bringing such an innovative and important project to completion here in Teesside ,” he said .
Claire Morton , Wilton Centre ’ s leasing and assistant asset manager , said : “ We ’ re proud to be playing a role in such an important project . We ’ ve followed and supported ReNew ELP ever since it moved
Buzzing - Wilton Centre scientist Emily Brown with some of her bees .
here more than four years ago and it ’ s great to see that their hard work is coming to fruition .”
Claire is also a fan of the hard-working bees who this summer have produced honey for hundreds of jars . Part of the proceeds of purchases by people who work at the centre are donated to its chosen charity , Zoe ’ s Place . The rest is used to maintain the hives . They had become largely forgotten until three years ago when amateur beekeeper and Wilton Centre chemist Emily Brown was surprised to discover their existence just as she was looking for more space to look after her bees .
Even though it seems an unlikely setting , Emily said the bees have everything they want : “ They need water – and they ’ re next to a lake . They ’ re surrounded by trees . In the spring they ’ ve got the dandelions and in the late spring they ’ ve got the heather .” As well as her care and attention , the bees also benefit from visits by a national bee inspector three times a year .
The Wilton Centre is managed by the Pioneer Group which has another nine sites in its portfolio across the UK and Ireland . Together they are home to nearly 650 businesses . In partnership with the Oxford Properties Group , Pioneer has just unveiled plans to convert a historic building in central London into a state-of-theart life sciences hub .
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