Episode 12: Thomas McCrae

Welcome back to Episode 12 of our People podcast here at Veolia where we connect our people

to our purpose through our people. And today we are joined by Tom McCrae who is the Operations

Manager at SELCHP. Welcome Tom. Thank you very much, Beth. Thank you so much for coming

here today. Thanks for having me. Absolute pleasure. So Tom, I want to start with you

for everybody that's listening and I've just introduced you as our Operations Manager at

SELCHP. Do you want to share with us what that means and where you call home? So I'm

the Operations Manager at SELCHP. SELCHP is South East London combined heat and power.

I'm actually from South London. I live in a spot called South Norwood. SELCHP for me is a short

commute away in Deptford which is slightly closer into London. So if you can start back your career

journey and how you came to where you are now, and then we can delve deeper into your world.

So sure. I left school about 16. So I messed around with college for a couple of years.

Before I made the decision to join the Royal Navy as a Marine Engineer, I did that for about nine

years serving on destroyers and frigates which I think was a great job for a young person fresh

out of school. I think I've really benefited from that disciplined environment and also got to travel

the world in the process which was quite nice. But in my late 20s, decided I wanted something a

little bit closer to home. So I left the Navy. Initially I had a job as a field engineer for a

small engineering company driving around London in a van which was a good transitionary experience,

you know, going from living on a boat to being in the centre of London. But somewhat fortunately

that didn't work out and that's where Violia comes in. I joined the team at SELCHP in 2013

initially as a assistant plant operator and then moved into a plant operator role.

A lot of engineering and teamwork skills that I'd acquired in the Navy transferred quite well to that

engineering role at a ERF or an energy recovery facility. So I did that for six years and then

another role for two years as a team leader before I landed this job where I am now as operations

manager. So I've been very fortunate to see SELCHP at lots of different levels and get all that

site specific experience which is really invaluable for what I do now. So as operations manager now,

I'm overseeing a team of about 30 mostly shift workers and we run the facility together.

In terms of the actual process at SELCHP, as mentioned it's an energy recovery facility.

So the plant is there to process waste, so that's the non-recyclable bin waste. That will come to us

and at SELCHP we're taking that around 400,000 tons of it every year, so a huge amount of waste.

And by burning that we're reducing the mass of that material to around 20% of its mass going in.

So for every 100 tons of material going in, that's 20 tons coming out. And what material is that

that's coming out? It's bottom ash, which is a heavy material left over after the waste has

been fully combusted. That gets reused as aggregate in the building industry. Scrap metal is also

coming out of that, which is recovered using electromagnets we have and then sold back into the

market. So can I just summarise really quickly what I'm hearing is that all the waste that's

generated in south east London, is that correct? So we have partnerships with different boroughs,

we also have a few other smaller streams of waste that we're taking in. I'm with you, okay.

So what I've heard then is that you're taking that and then there's different routes, whether that's

then being burnt to generate electricity or you've mentioned there about the magnets to take out

metals, is that correct? Yeah, I always try and break it down into two different kind of areas.

And I've talked about the the material that we are left over with as a byproduct from the process.

But when we are processing the material we're releasing huge amounts of energy in that process.

So this energy coming off of this material that we're processing, we've got to harness that energy

and we do that by heating hot water. We turn the hot water into steam

and we can then apply that steam to a turbine. And that turbine spins really quickly and that

is attached to a generator. So that spins, makes electricity. So that's energy that we're sending

out as electricity and SELCHP at any given time is providing energy to an equivalent of about

4000 homes. We're also sending out electricity via a private wire to a rcv charging station,

which is actually quite a new part of the picture. We have a charging station that's run by Violia

Westminster. That private wire is charging the refuse collection vehicles for Westminster.

There's about, I think there's 40 or 50 vehicles. So it's a great story for Violia and for Westminster

because we're essentially powering those vehicles off of electricity that is being made by processing

that rubbish. So that's a good example of the kind of circular economy in action, but that's not it.

Where you also harness energy in the form of hot water. You may have heard of the term district

heating. So explain that. So the district heating is we're taking a little bit of that

steam away from the turbine and we're applying it to what's called a heat exchanger. So you've got

steam on one side of the exchanger and hot water on the other side. So we're using that steam to

heat that water up to about 110 degrees. And then that water is pumped out of Seljip, goes under the

ground in an insulated pipe and into Southwark. It runs around Southwark for about five kilometres

and it goes to various commercial and residential properties. So it provides those buildings with

heat and then the water comes back to us to be reheated and pumped around again. And yeah,

that's a very important part of what we do as well. So, and something that's being expanded upon as

well. I think there's plans in the pipeline, excuse the pun, for expanding on that and supplying even

more energy in that form. If I can clarify, so you've burnt the waste, then that now is creating

that steam. Did you say it was water that you preserved some and then are you reusing that?

We're burning the waste within a boiler and imagine the waste burning inside this structure

and the structure is lined with tubes and those tubes are full of water. And then at the top of

those tubes, the water is heating up to the point where it's then evaporating into high pressure

steam. That high pressure steam is going to the turbine. And then we're taking a little bit of

that high pressure steam away and using that to heat up the water for the district heating system.

So it's like a secondary loop. So you've got the steam on one loop and then you've got

the hot water on a separate loop. So it's quite a complicated process I suppose, but it's quite

tried and tested technology. This is why it's so important to speak to people like you and for you

to just have that space to recognise. When you're talking to somebody like me about it, I'm like,

"Oh my, there's so much that goes into it and it's so impressive."

That is something, I'm fortunate enough to host quite a few tours of Shell Chip. As I've just been

saying, there is a lot to it, but I think a lot of people do come to Shell Chip or do come to an

energy from waste plant and they have this initial view or expectation that we are like a

bonfire burning material and big plumes of smoke coming off. And that's not the impression everyone

leaps with because as I've sort of alluded to, there is so much to the process and people are

genuinely quite surprised when they've had that tour and when they leave because they're like,

"Wow, I didn't realise there's so much to it." So Tom, you mentioned at the beginning that you

explained your career path and now currently as of today you're managing a team of around 30 people.

Your title is operations manager. For people who are listening, what does a day in your life look

like at Shell Chip? Because of the depth of the process, every day is a little bit different,

but predominantly it's looking after the team, so it's making sure that they've got the right tools

and the right resources to do the job correctly. So it's managing the stock of consumables is a

big part of what I do, managing all the byproducts that are being sent out and making sure that things

are running as smoothly and efficiently as they can. I've got a really good team that I work with.

We've got a maintenance team on-site who we work closely with as the operations team. So we're

running the plant but the maintenance team are making sure that the plant is ticking over and

any issues that arise are being repaired and we can continue to run to the best viability.

And this is where I want us to just take a wider look now at our purpose at Veolia. It's

ecological transformation. From your experience of working here at Veolia, how does the work that

you do and your role at SELCHP, how does that contribute to Veolia's purpose?

Yeah. We as a society produce a lot of waste. We have a refuse pit at SELCHP where the waste

that comes to us for processing is deposited prior to being fed into the boilers. That refuse

pit will usually contain between three and five thousand tons of waste. So it really brings home to you the scale of the challenge that we face as a society. These are finite

resources that we're dealing with. In the long term we need to transition away from our

reliance on them. So when we talk about transformation I think we acknowledge that it's a journey

and what we do as an energy recovery facility is an integral part of that journey. In the long run as

we approach milestones like net zero, I think we as a civilization should be creating less waste,

recycling more, doing better with that waste hierarchy. But for now with such big challenges

like pollution and energy shortages and the need to transition away from fossil fuels, I think that

the RFs have to be a part of that transformation process and that purpose. So just paint a picture

for me. What does in something that an object somebody might know, what is three thousand to five

thousand tons in comparison to? If you would to imagine two football fields with you know waste

stacked maybe 15 meters high. That's the sort of scale of it. See I mentioned the tours that I do

and it seems people are always very surprised when they see that pit of waste. It does bring home the

sort of scale of the challenge that we're facing. Thank you for bringing that depth to that.

So how do you align yourself and your team with the opportunity to connect with Veolia's purpose?

I think just reminding people of the importance of what they're doing. I think having open and

honest discussions about the challenges and the direction that we're going with those.

I also think it's a bit of training as well. It can't hurt and it certainly has its place. So

you know I think it's good the things that Veolia does to sort of get that message out.

Getting us all to have a think about those values and that purpose. I'm so glad to hear that.

I really am. I'm glad that you've been serving a purpose excuse my pun,

but helping to support and bring that alignment.

What feedback loops are in place to ensure that that alignment stays strong for you as a leader?

I think we've got a large support network around us at SELCHP and in the wider business.

There's lots of layers to ensuring that we stay on track and keep performing. That's the high

standard that's required. We get a lot of support internally from other areas of the business

as well as outside of the business. The environment agency as they're always around as well.

You know if we receive criticism or some feedback or suggestion then those are often helpful points

to keep us aligned and on track. Then comes down to myself and the rest of the management team to

deliver that feedback and to put things in place to empower the team to make those changes.

Wonderful thank you. What keeps driving you to do what you do?

The knowledge that we're taking a material that would be harmful to the environment.

If you were just to leave it undelt with. You feel like you are contributing in a way to society at

whole. That's quite a good drive that you're doing something positive. So yeah I think that

just gives you the extra motivation to do your job and to do challenging things in general when you

when you have that knowledge that you're doing something that's important.

Brilliant thank you. What does ecological transformation outside of your day to day

what does that mean to you? I think it's just about carrying doing what you can outside of work to

transition away from less efficient systems and behaviours that are potentially harmful

to the environment. I think as someone in the waste industry you have a bigger appreciation

for the importance of those issues and better awareness of the solutions. So I think that puts

us in a position of responsibility as a resourcer to set an example for those around us whether it's

as simple as doing your bins at home or you know having those conversations with your friends and

family and raising awareness of the things that we need to do and the challenge that we face.

On that topic of raising awareness what subjects do you think we should be teaching the next

generation about? I think sustainability obviously features highly on the list of things.

I think it's only really something that came onto my generation's radar later in our in our

childhoods so hopefully we can you know start the next generations off on a much better level.

I also think like innovation and development you know encouraging people to go into fields

that look at things like renewables and sources of cheap abundant electricity and energy for

the future I think should be high on the list of goals that we're setting for the next generation.

So Tom as we come in to kind of close down our wonderful conversation that we're having today

what is it that you would like to be remembered by? Nothing that grand I think just as a good

person who looked after people loved his family and did his best with the time that we all have.

That's really nice really sweet succinct and powerful thank you. So Tom as we come to close

the loop on our conversation today there is a question that was left for you there's a very

interesting question here so I'm going to read this out to you let me finish reading it out

before you answer okay okay so this is from Eleanor this is a question I start every team

meeting with what is your clap and cry for the week clap that equals something that you are

celebrating this week either in or out of work cry something that causes stress or annoyance this

week in or out of work over to you what is your clap let's start there fantastic question and um

I've never heard of a a clap and a cry for the week but it sounds like a great way to start

a meeting so I might have to poach that Eleanor thank you very much love it my clap for the week

is my wife's birthday uh the other day so of course that's got to be the clap for the week

and my cry for the week um it's gotta be the weather isn't it thank you so much Tom no thank

you very much bev thank you for sharing your story what you do helping to educate our wonderful

colleagues in the business who may not know what an erf is may have heard of cell chip but doesn't

actually know what that means and what goes into it this is what this is all about to inspire

connection collaboration share best practices just get to know and appreciate the work that

everybody's doing to drive our purpose of ecological transformation thank you everybody

so much for listening and stay tuned for the next episode where we invite somebody else

from Veolia to share their world and their story have a great day everyone.

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