Recycling firm to open ‘first of its kind’ training academy
A recycling company has set up a training academy in a former waste handling and recycling site, in Leyland.
In what is said to be the first of its kind to be created by a recycling company, Preston-based Recycling Lives is providing desk-based tuition, remote learning, hands-on demonstrations and virtual reality to induct new employees, upskill and develop existing staff and support offender rehabilitation.
The Recycling Lives Terry Jackson Academy is named after one of the business founders and officially opens in March.
Staff training will include management development, induction, specific vocational and life-skill based courses, and sustainability modules designed to empower attendees to address climate change both in the workplace and at home.
Internal core programmes will offer senior leadership and managers’ development opportunities, employees, and ‘Rising Stars’ identified as potential future leaders.
It will also induct and upskill ex-offenders working with the business as part of the long standing engagement with the justice system, linked to the company’s Recycling Lives Charity.
Training will be given in the use of cranes, weighbridges and other equipment located at the site. Specialised equipment is employed to demonstrate the innovative depollution process for end-of-life petrol, diesel and electric vehicles.
Virtual reality and AV resources are used to show the various processes and operations employed by the company. The training centre incorporates facilities for remote online training of staff at Recycling Lives’ 18 facilities across the UK. It will also be used by internal candidates accepted onto the metal recycling apprenticeship for the ‘off job’ development part of the qualification.
Transformation of the former Golden Hill recycling site on Braconash Road has included remodelling the existing warehouse, storage, and office facilities. Golden Hill was the original location of Recycling Lives, and the new training academy is named after Terry Jackson, who owned the site and developed the business.
Activities will expand to offer opportunities to local communities, and collaboration with schools and colleges.
Recycling Lives’ head of human resources, Angeline Betts-Derbyshire, says the availability of dedicated facilities in Leyland takes training and professional development within the company to a new level.
She said: “Expansion of the company has highlighted the need for comprehensive uplift of training, offering the opportunity to develop our existing staff and enable them to progress their careers within the business. It will also assist the work we undertake through our academy workshops within prisons and ROTL (Release on Temporary Licence) employment schemes, providing dedicated facilities for induction and training.
“Our new online capability provides facilities for delivering high quality induction and training for members of our 500-strong workforce wherever they are in the UK.”
Recycling Lives CEO, Gerry Marshall, said: “As the business continues to grow with new investment in resources, it is more important than ever that we also invest in the people we employ and those who are joining our company, to create a skilled and sustainable workforce that can share our success.
“We are passionate about helping to raise the skill levels across schools and colleges, and within the justice system and disadvantaged groups to help them find meaningful, sustainable employment, which, in turn, provides positive social economic impact.”
South Ribble Conservative MP, Katherine Fletcher, recently toured the site ahead of its official opening.
