JCK Ltd has officially launched its new recycling unit at the Balthane Industrial Estate in Ballasalla.

Managing director James Cubbon said £2.5m has been invested in the scheme which will benefit the company and the Island as a whole.

A number of politicians attended the launch on Friday.

The unit - the only one of its kind in the Island - deals with inert materials such as soils, rubbles and concrete.

Mr Cubbon said the company has been recycling since 1995 but this was a big step forward.

He explained: "We were losing 30 per cent of everything in the inert materials now we are now hopefully going to bring it down to between seven and 10 per cent which makes a big difference for our own business as well as for the outside customers.

"The clay waste from here - after we have got the good stuff out - will go to Lhergy Dhoo, our old site which we have three years left to landscape."

He said the operation is licensed for six days a week, but will only be used five and a half days a week.

Mr Cubbon added: "There is three staff onsite all the time and obviously our lorries which are in addition to it. It will hopefully create up to as many as half a dozen jobs altogether.

"It is something we had to see for the future of the Island and for the future of the company to bring the company into the next generation."

Economic Development Minister Allan Bell said: "My department has been working very closely with JCK to ensure this development goes ahead. It is a major step forward in helping to resolve the issue of construction waste which has bedeviled the Island for a great many years.

"This is a modern forward thinking investment which will greatly recycle the construction waste which is generated across the Island. It will improve the quality of the end product and reduce the need for further quarrying on the Island by a considerable amount.

"Even though we may be entering difficult times it is a great example I think of the confidence the private sector have in the economy at the moment and it is a very pragmatic practical step to resolve what has been a long standing problem on the Island."

He said his department has been closely involved in the project and has given some financial support to the development.

"I very much hope JCK itself will prosper on the back of this and the Island in a general sense will feel the benefit for many years to come," he added.

Photo by John Gregory