Ecogen Recycling has invested £150,000 in a state-of-the-art fire detection and suppression system.

The Hampshire-based recycling and secure document destruction company, which already uses flame-scan cameras, has upgraded to a Helios FireMist system. This is designed to locate and extinguish fires in real time with no human interaction.

Ecogen’s Commercial Director, James Lewis, said: “We decided now is the right time to invest because lithium battery fires are now so much more prevalent, causing havoc in our industry. We have just invested £1m in new baling machinery and we want to protect our assets as much as possible in future”.

Ecogen is one of the largest independent recycling companies in the south of England. The company handles 36,000 tonnes of plastic and paper waste which includes producing 12,000 tonnes of shredded archive paper for UK and overseas tissue mills each year.