Steel & Iron Recycled for London 2012

Posted in Industry News on 26th January 2012

William Rowland are a leading supplier of Iron and Stainless Steel.

With only months to go before the opening ceremony in London, the Olympic Park is almost ready. Built in one of London's most underdeveloped areas at Lower Lea Valley, the park hopes to trigger positivity in the area by providing new transport facilities, employment, housing, a green park and cultural sports facilities.

London won the Games based on their "reduce, reuse, recycle" approach that promotes a greener city, country and world.

The area was taken up by derelict industrial land in the East End, with poor housing broken up by waterways, pylons, roads, and underground and railway lines. 200 buildings were demolished and 1.3 million tonnes of waste were recovered, but this was no ordinary operation that would result in dumping the rubbish elsewhere.

Olympic Park

Aerial view of the Olympic Park (Image by Anthony Charlton)

Contractors have used 95% of the materials from the clean up and demolishment in the area, and using these materials already on site, significantly cut down on the need for transportation of goods.

There were other people willing to help with the clean up, including local police and Scotland Yard. A staggering 52 tonnes of scrap metal was gathered from old keys, knives and guns by Scotland Yard, whilst the London Metropolitan Police force took 3.3 million spent bullets that weighed 28 tonnes from their firing ranges to be used in the construction of the Olympic Games buildings. These bullets and their casings were made of lead, brass and aluminium.

Steel and iron were amongst some of the other metals to be melted down and reused in the construction of bridges, buildings, and even in car and train production all going to show how green an industry "metal bashing" is. The old adage "One man's scrap is another's raw material" still holds well.

Construction started in May 2008 on the Olympic Stadium, and it was completed in April 2011. Native animals have been released and trees, grass and wildflowers have been planted in the park surrounding the Olympic buildings.

The Olympic Stadium

The Olympic Stadium

With an overall capacity of 80,000 made up of permanent and temporary seating, the stadium will be an unforgettable host for the Olympics that aims for a greener world, and goes on to be part of cultural and community events for years to come.

William Rowland Ltd are iron suppliers and we can supply metals in various forms across the globe, if you would like to find out how we can meet your requirements, please contact us using the Quick Enquiry Form on the right-hand side of this website.

Tags: High Purity Metals News, Iron News, Metal Powders News, Stainless Steel News