WHAT have Manchester City’s goalposts, the X-Factor stage and a van used in Coronation Street got in common?

The answer is they have all been processed by the Tyldesley-based scrap metal recycling firm, Maxilead Metals.

And earlier this month the company’s export total to Asia reached 11,000 tonnes — a figure equal to four Blackpool Towers of scrap metal.

The company collects and processes almost 60,000 tonnes of waste metal from homes and organisations around Bolton, the North West and the UK every year.

Tom Clay, managing director at Maxilead Metals, said: “When people bring their scrap to us, the majority of our materials stay here in the UK to be recycled, but approximately 7% is sent to Asia, where it is treated and reused in thousands of new applications.”

Scrap vehicles, household appliances, steel, copper and lead account for the usual materials processed at the firm’s 18.2 acre site in Tyldesley.

Mr Clay said: “This is fantastic for the environment, as it ultimately means that more waste is diverted from landfill and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.”

He added: “One of the best ways we can look after our planet is by getting better and better at recycling and ensuring that materials are being reused over and over again.

“Everyone needs to do their bit, and we think that people throughout our region are really starting to understand that; hence our year-on-year growth.”

* Maxilead Metals recently announced relocation plans to move from its site in Tyldesley to a larger piece of land in Atherton. This will allow the company to expand on the back of a stream of national contract wins.