Harlesden traders in a dust-up with recycling centre over ‘dirty’ air
Workers claim wood shredder is making their jobs a misery
Traders have hit out at a recycling centre which they say is affecting their working lives.
Workers at the Gateway Trading Estate on Hythe Road, Harlesden. slammed neighbouring Powerday Recycling Centre for their use of a wood shredder, the shavings from which they say is damaging their property and contaminating the air.
Furious employees told the Times that within hours, windows and cars were covered in the dust drifting over from the plant off nearby Scrubs Lane.
Adam Steventon, production manager for ‘Starlight’ an electrical suppliers’ store on the estate, said that despite many complaints to the environmental agency, nothing had been solved.
He added: “Some days it looks like its snowing here because of the amount of dust around.”
The recycling plant, which opened three years ago, provides recycling and waste management solutions to businesses across the UK.
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Nik Patel, 31 who works for Prime Light, which is directly next door to the plant, said: “Every weekend I have to clean my car and then on a Monday within hours it’s covered in dirt again.
“I can’t even sit and eat my lunch because of dust that comes through the grates and gets in the car.”
John Ryan, 53, who has been running Ryan’s Garage for 12 years, said: “It’s horrible – everybody is breathing in dust and you can smell it in the air.”
Adding that the problems have also resulted in an unnecessary workload for his staff, he said: “We lose time every morning because we have to spend hours cleaning up people’s cars and not fixing them.”
A spokesman for Powerday Recycling Centre said that, having received complaints, they sent a sweeper to clean dust off Prime Light’s premises and put extra measures in place to ensure further problems were under control.
He added: “We have a weather station and windsock in place so we know when not to perform the operation.
“This is a huge industrial area and the amount of dust in the area is not all down to us.”
The spokesman for the environment agency said they were working with Hammersmith and Fulham Council and Powerday Recycling Centre to solve the problems.
