Tonnes of wood has gone into the building of a new high school in Cheshunt – and Shepherd Construction has ensured none of it has gone to waste.

Around 20 tonnes of wood from the construction site has been donated to a local wood recycling scheme over the past few months, meaning none of it has gone to landfill.

Instead it has been used by community groups or sold to the public to raise money for charity.

Shepherd is building the new St Mary's C of E High School in Cheshunt, which will be the first newly built high school in the county for 30 years.

Project Manager Mike Wells said: "Tonnes of wood has been used across the site, from the timber trusses in the roof to delivery pallets. All excess wood has been recycled and reused, meaning none of it has gone to landfill.

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"Shepherd is committed to sourcing timber on its sites from sustainable sources, with the timber roof trusses at Cheshunt being organic and from well-managed sources. The wood recycling scheme means we have been able to consider the environment from the start of the project to the finish."

Wood from the Cheshunt site has been given to the Emmaus St Albans timber recycling scheme, which uses money raised from its local wood collection service to support its work with homeless people.

During May and June, almost 13 tonnes of wood were given to Emmaus St Albans, who collect from the Cheshunt site twice a week. In April the total was almost seven tonnes.

The £34million St Mary's C of E High School project is a joint initiative between Hertfordshire County Council and the Diocese of St Albans. The two-storey school will be home to more than 1,000 pupils, who are due to transfer from their current building next spring.

(CD/KMcA)