Cory Environmental


Cory Environmental is a large resource management, recycling and energy recovery company in the United Kingdom. Cory operates in nearly 40 locations throughout England, providing services in the collection, recycling and disposal of waste.

Operations

Cory Environmental is one of the UK's leading resource management, recycling and energy recovery companies. It handles more than 3.5 million tonnes of waste and recyclable materials per year at sites across the UK and has contracts for recycling, street cleansing and waste collection. It may be best known for operating barges on the River Thames from central London to Cory's Riverside Resource Recovery, Energy from Waste facility in Bexley. Using London's green highway to transfer waste by barge removes 100,000 lorry movements per year from London's roads.

History

Coal and refuse

The company was founded in London in 1896 as William Cory and Son Ltd. Cory was formed from the merger of eight companies in the coal trade and had a comprehensive business in transporting and supplying five million tonnes of coal per year to trade and domestic customers in London. Cory had a fleet of 2,500 railway wagons and also operated lighters on the River Thames. Rather than operate its lighters unladen on their return journeys from delivering coal, Cory used them to carry refuse from London to be dumped in the marshlands of Essex and Kent.
After the turn of the 20th century, Cory started to provide social housing for some of its workforce.
Cory ships had brown upper works above hull level. The funnel was black with a broad white band, and a large black diamond on the white band. The house flag was red with a large white or cream diamond in the middle.
In 1900 S.P. Austin & Co of Sunderland built the 1,780 GRT coaster SS Heston for the company. On 24 May 1902 she was en route from Decido to Rotterdam laden with iron ore when she was involved in a collision with SS Castillo and sank in the Bay of Biscay southwest of Point Penmarc'h in Brittany.
In 1902 S.P. Austin & Co. built the 1,191 GRT collier SS Caenwood for the company. On 21 November 1905 she ran aground and was wrecked in the North Sea off the North Landing of Flamborough Head.
In 1896 Cory bought the 867 GRT coaster SS F.T. Barry, which Backhouse and Dixon of Middlesbrough had built in 1872. On 23 June 1906 she was involved in a collision in the North Sea with SS Tynesider, was beached on Gunfleet Sands off Clacton-on-Sea and became a total loss.
In 1896 Cory bought the 1,053 GRT coaster SS Nellie Wise, which Denton Gray & Co of West Hartlepool had built in 1873. On 8 January 1908 while en route from London to the River Tyne she ran aground on Blackhall Rocks northwest of Hartlepool. She was refloated but sold for scrap.
In 1909 S.P. Austin & Co. built the 2,660 GRT coaster SS William Cory for the company. She ran aground at Pendeen in Cornwall and was wrecked in September 1910.

First World War

During the First World War the War Department requisitioned most of Cory's tugs for the Royal Navy. In 1914 Cory encouraged its workers to enlist in Kitchener's Army, and they formed an entire company of the 6th battalion, the Royal East Kent Regiment as a pals' unit.
Cory cargo ships sailed usually coastal convoys but sometimes independently. The company lost 15 ships: 13 were confirmed sunk by enemy action, one disappeared and was presumed sunk by enemy action and one was sunk by a collision. 94 seafarers were killed and numerous others were injured.
SS Deptford was a 1,208 GRT collier built by Blyth Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. in 1912. She was a flatiron, meaning that she had a low-profile superstructure, hinged funnel and hinged or telescopic mast to pass under low bridges on the River Thames upriver form the Pool of London. On 24 February 1915 she was en route from Granton to Chatham carrying coal for naval bunkering when she was sunk by a mine in the Scarborough minefield that the German cruiser had laid during the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 15 December 1914. One crewmember was lost.
SS Hadley was a 1,777 GRT coaster built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1901. On 27 December 1915 she was en route from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to London when a mine laid by the German minelaying submarine sank her in the north sea three miles from the Shipwash lightship, which is southwest of Orford Ness. All her crew were saved.
SS Denewood was a 1,221 GRT coaster built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1905. On 26 May 1916 she was carrying coal from the River Tyne to London when she was sunk in the North Sea by a mine off Sizewell. All her crew were saved.
SS Brentwood was a 1,192 GRT collier built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1904. On 12 January 1917 she was sunk in the North Sea by a mine laid by the German minelaying submarine. She sank off Saltwick Nab near Whitby with the loss of her second mate and a fireman. SS Togston rescued the survivors and landed them at Sunderland.
SS Hurstwood was a 1,229 GRT collier built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1906. On 5 February 1917 she was steaming from London to Newcastle-upon-Tyne in ballast when the German submarine torpedoed and sank her off Whitby. The chief engineer and a fireman were killed in the explosion and two men were seriously injured. 11 survivors got away in a boat and were rescued by the armed trawler HMS Swallow but one of the injured, a donkeyman, died of his injuries.
SS Harberton was a 1,443 GRT collier built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1894 for J.& C. Harrison of London. On 29 March 1917 she left Blyth for London laden with coal. Neither she nor her master and 15 crew were seen again. She is presumed to have been either torpedoed by an enemy submarine or sunk by an enemy mine. Her date of loss is recorded as 30 March but this is conjectural and her wreck has not yet been found.
SS Sir Francis was a 1,991 GRT collier built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1910. On 7 June 1917 she was steaming northwards to the River Tyne when the German submarine sank her with two torpedoes off Cloughton. Her master and nine crew were lost, SS Dryade and the Cory ship SS Vernon rescued 12 survivors, and the latter landed all the survivors at South Shields.
SS Vernon was a 982 ton coaster built by John Blumer & Co. of Sunderland in 1878. On 7 June 1917 she took part in the rescue of survivors from the Cory collier SS Sir Francis. On 31 August 1917 in the North Sea off Spurn, the German submarine torpedoed and sank Vernon and one of her crew was lost.
SS Hockwold was a 1,492 GRT collier built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1911. On 8 September 1917 she in the western approaches to the English Channel when she was involved in a collision with SS Intent southwest of The Lizard and sank with the loss of 10 men including her master. Intent rescued two survivors and recovered the body of the master.
SS Harrow was a 1,777 GRT coaster built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1900. On the evening of 8 September 1917 she was in the North Sea steaming from Granton to London with a cargo of coal as part of a convoy. A few miles northwest of North Cheek of Robin Hood's Bay the German submarine torpedoed her, killing the first mate and a gunner and sinking her. One of the convoy's armed trawler escorts rescued her remaining crew and transferred them to a motor launch that landed them at Whitby.
SS Ocean was a 1,442 GRT collier built by S.P. Austin & Co. for Lambert Bros. Ltd. of London in 1894 and Cory had subsequently bought from her first owners. On 23 November 1917 the German submarine SM UB-21 torpedoed and sank her in the North Sea off Saltburn-by-the-Sea. All her complement of 17 crew and two gunners were saved.
SS Highgate was a 1,780 GRT collier built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1899. On 7 December 1917 she was carrying 2,380 tons of coal from the River Tyne to London when the German Type UB III submarine torpedoed and sank her about off the South Cheek of Robin Hood's Bay. All 20 crew were rescued by a motor patrol boat and landed at Whitby.
SS The Buffs was a 3,431 GRT collier built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1917, so named to mark Cory's connection with the regiment. However, in 1920 Cory's renamed the ship SS Corland. She survived the First World War but was sunk in the Second World War.
SS Corsham was a 2,797 GRT cargo ship newly built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1918. On 8 March 1918 she was steaming from London to the River Tyne when the German submarine torpedoed and sank her in the North Sea off Loftus. 12 reached her lifeboat and five were saved from the water by motor patrol boats, but nine men were lost, mostly from hypothermia or drowning.
SS Crayford was a 1,209 GRT collier built by Blyth Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. in 1911. On 13 March 1918 she was crossing the North Sea from Methil in Scotland to Christiania in Norway with a cargo of coke when the German submarine torpedoed and sank her about off Skudesnes with the loss of the chief engineer.
'SS Lady Cory-Wright was a 2,516 GRT collier built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1906. The War Department requisitioned her for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in August 1914 as the mine carrier '. On 26 March 1918 she was steaming from Plymouth to Malta with a cargo of mines when the German submarine torpedoed and sank her about or off The Lizard with the loss of 39 lives. Only one crew member survived.
During the war Cory bought R. and J.H. Rea, which both expanded its tug, barge and coastal collier fleets but also gave Cory a presence in the ports of Bristol and Southampton. After the war Cory expanded further; buying the Mercantile Lighterage Company in 1920, followed by Mellonie and Goulder of Ipswich and several other companies in 1928.

Second World War

In the Second World War fuel supplies were vital to the war effort. Cory colliers sailed in coastal convoys and 13 of them were lost.
SS Corbrae was a 1,788 GRT coaster launched in 1935 by the Burntisland Shipbuilding Company of Fife. The War Department requisitioned her into the Royal Navy as the minesweeper HMS Corbrae. After her naval service she was returned to Cory, who in 1948 sold her to new owners who renamed her Kinburn. Burntisland Shipbuilding Co. built a new MV Corbrae for Cory in 1952.
SS Corburn was a 1,786 GRT coaster and Corbraes sister ship, also launched in 1935 by the Burntisland Shipbuilding Co. The War Department requisitioned her into the Royal Navy as the minesweeper HMS Corburn. On 21 May 1940 a mine sank Corburn in the English Channel off Le Havre.
SS Corhaven was a 991 GRT coaster built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1933. On 26 July 1940 she was in a convoy in the Straits of Dover that was attacked by Junkers Ju 87 dive-bombers. Five ships including Corhaven were sunk and five more were damaged.
SS Corbrook was a 1,729 GRT collier built by Cowpen Drydock and Shipbuilding of Northumberland in 1929. She was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea off Cromer on 9 September 1940.
SS Corheath was a 1,096 GRT collier built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1936. On 24 January 1941 she was off the coast of Kent en route from Portsmouth to Blyth when she was sunk by a mine with the loss of three lives.
SS Corduff was a 2,345 GRT coaster built by Swan Hunter in 1923. On 7 March 1941 the torpedo boat S-28 attacked and sank her in the North Sea off Mundesley.
SS Cordene was a 2,345 GRT coaster built by Swan Hunter in 1924 and the sister ship of SS Corduff. On 9 August 1941 enemy aircraft attacked and sank her in the North Sea off Mundesley.
SS Corfield was a 1,791 GRT coaster built by Burntisland Shipbuilding Co. in 1937. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy as the minesweeper HMS Corfield. On 8 September 1941 she was sunk in the North Sea by a mine off Saltfleet.
SS Corhampton was a 2,495 GRT collier built by S.P. Austin & Co. in 1933. On 15 November 1941 she was en route from Hartlepool to Rochester when German aircraft bombed her in the North Sea about off Spurn. She sank the following day.
SS Cormarsh was a 2,848 GRT collier built by the Burntisland Shipbuilding Co. in 1939. On 29 November 1941 she was sunk in the North Sea by a mine off Blakeney Point. Burntisland Shipbuilding Co. launched a replacement Cormarsh in 1943.
SS Cormead was a 2,848 GRT collier built by the Burntisland Shipbuilding Co. in 1939, the sister ship of SS Cormarsh. On Christmas Day 1941 Cormead was sunk in the North Sea by a mine off Hopton-on-Sea.
SS Corfen was a 1,848 GRT coaster. She was sunk in the North Sea by a mine off Frinton-on-Sea on 3 January 1942. Hall, Russell & Company of Aberdeen built a replacement SS Corfen in 1944.
SS Corland was bombed and sunk at anchor in the North Sea off Spurn by enemy aircraft on 5 February 1942.
SS Cormount was a 2,841 GRT collier built by Burntisland Shipbuilding Co. in 1936. On 13 November 1943 she was damaged in the North Sea by a mine off Aldeburgh. She was taken in tow but sank before reaching safety.

Cory since 1945

The Second World War was not the end of Cory's losses at sea. Swan Hunter built the 2,373 GRT collier SS Hopecrest in 1918. Cory bought her from her original owners in 1919 and renamed her SS Corcrest. On 24 June 1949 she struck a submerged object, ran aground and was wrecked off the mouth of the River Deben in Suffolk.
S.P. Austin & Co built the 2,374 GRT collier SS Corchester in 1927. On 19 February 1956 she was en route from London to Hartlepool in rough sea, a blizzard and no visibility off the Haisboro' Light. The 6,986 Ellerman Lines cargo ship City of Sidney sliced Corchester in two through no. 1 hold and sank her. Eight of Corchesters crew were lost, of whom six had been in her forecastle accommodation. Survivors were rescued by another Cory ship, SS Cormull.
By the 1950s Cory was transporting and supplying fuel oil as well as coal. In 1956 Cory started to develop a fleet of barges designed specifically to carry refuse rather than coal. Cory had its own barge-building yard, which produced more than 400 such vessels between 1962 and 1972. Oil-fired central heating grew in popularity such that by 1972 Cory was supplying per year to domestic customers.
In the 1960s and 1970s William Cory was operating general and refrigerated road haulage out of Palmers Wharf, Deptford. The colours were white with the black lozenge. Later On it was taken over by Ocean and renamed McGregor Cory Cargo Services and the vehicles became red. They gradually got involved with the emerging container traffic and worked for OCL who were taking over refrigerated imports from New Zealand and Australia. As containers were mostly arriving in Tilbury docks, MCCS moved to Thurrock and Barking, Essex. This was the final end of the link with Deptford
In 1972 Ocean Group plc bought Cory. In 1979 Cory bought Thames and General Lighterage, making Cory the largest waste carrier on the Thames. In the 1980s Cory withdrew from coal and oil distribution to concentrate on waste transport and disposal. In 1981 two Cory group companies were merged to form Cory Waste Management. Cory Environmental Municipal Services Ltd was formed in 1989 and the two companies were merged as Cory Environmental in 1990. In 1997 Cory Environmental grew by buying Local Authority Waste Disposal Companies from Essex County Council and Gloucestershire County Council. In 1999 Cory bought Parkhill Reclamation, increasing Cory's presence in the West Midlands and North West England.
In 2000 Ocean Group plc merged with NFC plc to form Exel plc, which in 2005 sold Cory to Montagu Private Equity. In March 2007 Montagu sold Cory to a consortium of investors consisting of ABN Amro Global Infrastructure Fund, Finpro SGPS and Santander Private Equity.
In 2012 Cory Environmental was awarded an eight-year contract to provide the waste collection services throughout the county of Cornwall.
On 10 June 2015, it was announced that Biffa had bought the Cory waste collection business, Cory Environmental Municipal Services Limited for £13.5 Million.