Alex Batty loving recycling job after earlier struggle to find work
Alex Batty, who returned to the UK after being abducted, has started working at a recycling centre in Oldham and says he loves it.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Alex Batty, the teenager who returned to the UK six years after being abducted by his mother and grandfather, has found work at a household waste recycling centre in Oldham. He has been there for three months and says he is enjoying the job, despite the initial shock of the smell.
Batty gave a tour of the site, showing the range of materials that can be recycled, from builder's rubble to mattresses and carpets. "Most people don't know but we recycle basically everything nowadays," he said. He described his first day as "horrible" because of the odour, but added that after 12 hours you become "nose-blind" to it.
His employment came after he appeared on BBC Breakfast in May, speaking about the difficulty of finding work as a young adult. He said at the time: "I am looking for work, absolutely anything. It's so hard, it's so difficult." The centre's manager saw the interview and was struck by Batty's attitude. "That is a perfect example of a young person with a brilliant attitude who we would love to come and work for Suez," he said. Within weeks, Batty was hired and paired with a mentor named Sam, who praised his willingness to learn: "He's keen and he wants to learn and that's what stood out about him the most."
Batty sees a future for himself at the company. "There's definitely a career progression here. I knew it from basically my interview. I want to get up there, I want to get as much as high as I can." He also finds meaning in the work itself, saying that even on long, rainy shifts, it is "kind of nice to know that the job I do actually has an impact." The report noted that he might be surrounded by junk, but he does not think there is anything rubbish about his job.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | BBC One |
|---|---|
| Alex Batty has been working at a household waste recycling centre in Oldham for three months. | |
| Alex Batty has career ambitions and wants to progress in the company. | |
| The centre manager offered Alex Batty a job after seeing him on BBC Breakfast. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The report focuses on Alex Batty's personal journey from struggling to find work to gaining meaningful employment, highlighting his positive attitude and the role of a local employer who saw his potential. It is a human-interest piece with a feel-good tone, contrasting his earlier difficulties with his current satisfaction and ambition.
- “The first day was horrible. Yeah, the smell, oh, my God. But honestly, after you spend 12 hours here, you get nose-blind to it.”
- “It's important to recycle. You know, every tiny little thing adds up.”
- “I could be 10 hours on, it could have been raining all day but it's kind of nice to know that the job I do actually has an impact.”
Broadcast Timeline
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