J&B News & Updates

24.02.21 | Business News

Based in Middlesbrough, South Tees is one of J&B Recycling’s four sites that are operated across the North East.

Acquired in 2014, the site is a transfer station with treatment for wastes from businesses and local authorities and has been developed to store and process waste materials.

We chat with the Site Manager at South Tees, Brett Cullinane, to find out more about the work that the wonderful South Tees team do.

Can you tell us a bit about the South Tees site?

As a transfer station we work very closely with businesses as well as local authorities in the area and take in any waste that our permit allows, including some hazardous wastes.

J&B previously ran Redcar Council’s civic amenity sites and transfer station for which I was the remote site supervisor. When the council decided to take that operation inhouse I became the site manager responsible for the running of our new South Tees site in 2014.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I was born in 1973 in Otahuhu, Auckland, New Zealand, and spent a lot of my childhood living on a dairy farm.

After leaving school I worked as a truck driver delivering frozen goods around the north island of New Zealand and then worked in a family run bakery business as a dispatch manager before moving into the construction industry. As a keen sportsman I got the opportunity to play rugby in the UK for West Hartlepool RFC and played there for 10 years. After three years in the UK I joined J&B Recycling in 2000 as a delivery driver and then moved into the yard at Baltic Street.

During my time at J&B Recycling I have held various roles within the company. Along with my role as South Tees Site Manager, I am also a RTITB approved plant operator trainer and carry out new and refresher training for the company.

Can you introduce us to the team at South Tees?

Alongside myself we have a team of operators at South Tees who include: Paddy Sullivan, site wagon driver, Keith Jeffries (Jaffa), weighbridge operator, Jonathan Miller and Colin Taylor (Mario), Level One Plant Operators, Slawek Zapalowski, Level Two Plant Operator and Site Operative, Costica Goras, Site Operative, and Charles Wallis, David Cordoneanu and Stephen Hutchinson who are South Tees agency staff.

So, what does a typical day at South Tees involve?

Customers start arriving from 7am and tip off in the designated tipping zones where site staff will remove any recyclable materials from the loads tipped. The residue waste then gets put through the shredder and magnet and is sent away to Energy From Waste (EfW) sites to produce electricity. The site is busy throughout the day with vehicles tipping and also wagons taking the processed materials away. My day as Site Manager ends by planning for the next day from transport to staffing levels etc.

Has there been any developments at South Tees over the years?

Since opening the site we have added sorting sheds, processing plant as well as concreting a large area of the site as a lot of the land was on unmade ground. I see lots of opportunities as the company holds a permit to receive 1million tonnes of waste. We have plenty of room and space for more developments at the site in the future.

And lastly, what do you enjoy most about the South Tees site?

We have a good group of staff at South Tees, a majority of which have been with the company from the early days of the site opening.

I enjoy being based at our South Tees site and the responsibility placed on me to make sure the site is run efficiently and within our permit. I am proud to see the site continuing to grow year on year.

You can learn more about our commercial waste collection services here or all other enquiries regarding how J&B Recycling can help with your waste disposal, please get in touch here.