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Over the last 24 months, Countrystyle has successfully obtained EA approval for three separate Fire Prevention Plans in its wood, plasterboard and RDF / MRF facilities – a major achievement in an industry that is challenged by waste fires. This has only been obtained through hard work, investment and, most importantly, by taking fire risk seriously.

Working closely with our Property Insurer, Affiliated FM (a division of FM Global), Countrystyle has invested £250,000 into an automatic dry sprinkler system for the new DMR MRF which was supplied by FM approved fire solution experts, Thameside Fire.

Capable of delivering up to 6,000 litres per minute, the UK built, Armstrong diesel fire pump distributes 10.2 mm/min of water over the entire DMR MRF via 280 sprinkler nozzles and uses water from Countrystyle’s dedicated 450,000L capacity water storage tank. To enable unprocessed recyclables and baled material to be stored in the six former IVC sanitation tunnels, each tunnel has been fitted with its own pipework and 20 x sprinkler heads, which operate via a separate control valve-set located in the main DMR MRF building.

Director of Compliance, Stuart Butler-Gallie, said “We experienced a fire within an external wood bunker two years ago and understand first-hand the impact fire can have on our business. Since then we have invested heavily in technology and staff training to ensure we can quickly move to tackle fires that can arise when dealing with high volumes of waste per annum.”

Stuart added: “We are delighted to have worked collaboratively with our insurers, Affiliated FM, aided by our brokers, Marsh, so that all parties involved were confident Thameside Fire would deliver a system that worked for us. This new system can give confidence to a global company who understand fire risk and highlights Countrystyle’s serious dedication about managing that risk”.