Full statement by S Norton made in response to our article 'Toxic air is choking Merseyside'

“S Norton complies to very strict site regulations and operates under an installation permit issued by the Environment Agency for the processing of waste electricals and scrap metal, ensuring that the environment and human health are protected.

“As a family-run business with deep roots in the city since 1962, we always work within the best interests of our local community to keep noise and air pollution to a minimum. We continually work within our environmental permit, the permit has strict limits on release of particulates to the atmosphere and monitoring demonstrates that we regularly achieve particulate concentrations at levels of 10% of what is allowed by the very strict limits.

“We continue to work towards and meet the highest standards with regards to management systems and fire prevention. We are regularly inspected by the EA and we are confident that we are doing everything we can to prevent fires on our premises.

“Following the fire in September 2021, we have engaged with the EA and Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service and put further measures in place to reduce the risk of fires on our site. Many fires in our industry are caused by lithium-ion batteries that have been left in waste electronics when they are thrown away.  

“The incorrect disposal of batteries poses serious safety and environmental risks for all recyclers and waste processors. We urge everyone to maintain their focus on recycling responsibly, and we are working with manufacturers in conjunction with the British Metals Recycling Association to reduce these hazards for all recyclers.

“We continue to go above and beyond what the industry standard expects in order to reduce the risk of fires including installing thermal cameras, carrying out weekly fire drills and manually sorting through every load tipped at our sites to remove lithium-ion batteries where possible.

“As a company that contributes heavily to local employment and the local economy, the S Norton Group achieves a 95% recycling rate on all of its materials processed through its shredding operations, making us trailblazers in our field. Compared with making steel from new materials, every tonne of recycled steel saves 1.5 tonnes of iron ore, 0.5 tonnes of coal, 70% of the energy, 40% of the water, 75% of the CO2 emissions equivalent to 0.97 tonnes of CO2.”