The Springwood Drive Recycling Centre for Household Waste provides a modern, customer friendly facility close to the centre of Braintree. It is designed to help residents fulfil Essex County Council’s aim of maximising reuse and recycling as well as providing a disposal point for bulkier items of waste not normally collected at the kerbside.
The site is split level in design to minimise the use of steps to access the bins and to help keep site operations and HGV Lorries serving the site separate from members of the public. Construction started in July 2009 and was completed spring 2010.
Ptolemy Elrington was commissioned to make sculpture for the site due to his practice making use of recycled materials and his track record of producing work for public places. The site includes a large area of meadow with a public footpath running across.
Ptolemy drew inspiration from this natural environment with the sculpture being mounted along the approach road to the site. The theme of the sculpture conveys the message that recycling is good for the environment.