Manufacturer Craemer lands wheelie big deal with Shropshire Council

Craemer won the contract to produce the bins with the council, following a competitive tendering exercise that attracted interest from businesses across the UK.

The new wheelie bins – for recycling cans, plastic and glass at the kerbside – are available on request, and since January this year more than 75,000 households have placed an order. The first households received their bins last week.

Representatives from Shropshire Council and its waste contractor Veolia were given a look behind the scenes and watched the bins be made at one of the firm's manufacturing facilities at Hortonwood West during a visit on Tuesday.

Speaking during the visit, Councillor Ian Nellins, council cabinet member with responsibility for waste management, said: "I have been very impressed with the speed of production and how it all comes together.

"It is amazing to see what goes on in the background of these businesses.

"The fact that a Shropshire-based firm will be manufacturing the bins means we will be supporting the county’s economy, and brings environmental benefits as the bins won’t have far to travel to reach their final destination."

Steve Poppitt, managing director of Craemer UK, which has two sites in Telford, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded the contract to supply Shropshire Council with their new recycling bins.

“We produce the bins for Shropshire Council at both sites and it means if we have any technical issues at one of the sites it doesn’t mean production has to stop completely. We use as much recycled material as we can and these bins are designed to last 20-25 years. Plus, they can be recycled at the end of their life as well.”

The new contract has followed a significant period of growth for German manufacturer Craemer, which has seen it open its Site B factory on Hortonwood West to add to its Site A at Hortonwood nearby as well as take on dozens of new staff to meet a surge in demand.

Site B has allowed the company to introduce new larger machinery as it diversifies its products, including new four-wheel large waste containers.

Mr Poppitt added: “We’re three years into production here at Site B and although in terms of production surface area this is the smaller of the two, the infrastructure in the building is far greater than at Site A because we produce a much bigger product here.”

“We produce about 64,000 bins a week at both sites and about three million a year. As we’ve expanded, demand has expanded.

“We have room to extend the factory at Site B quite considerably. We have got 13 acres here and we have only developed about six. We have just expanded our storage area by 24,000 sq m.

“We haven’t got anything new planned at the moment but expansion is possible.”