03/04/2014 The One Show

Hello and welcome to The One Show with Matt Baker. And Alex Jones.

Last night we looked at how UK air pollution reached very high levels.

But tonight, we are looking at pollution in a different way. We

are. Because Marty's been finding out how exhaust fumes can actually

be quite lucrative. But, thankfully for us, the Saharan dust levels

haven't stopped our guest getting here tonight. Please welcome the

spexy beast. It's Alan Carr! I'm not coming near you. You are

riddled. Is that why you're wearing the mask? It's me, it's me. I

thought you wanted me to bear this to cover up my teeth. I might

frighten small children. Have you noticed a difference in the air

because you live in London? Yes, I live in London and it is quite

hazy. I thought my cataract got worse. It's surprising. It's quite

foggy but it's pollution. I get out of breath anyway. There's a

tightness in my chest. It's not fascinating, but listen, if you want

to talk about smog, you talk about it, love. Now, one of the major

causes of air pollution is car fumes. But as well as hydrocarbons,

sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide, car exhausts expel very precious

metals on to Britain's streets. That's a very good knowledge. It

would be no mastermind subject. Can you imagine if there was a way of

processing all those metal particles and moulding them into bigger

pieces. You'd make a fortune! You would. But Marty's beaten you to it.

Our streets may not be paved with gold but you can find traces of an

even more precious metal. And it could be worth millions of pounds a

year. Every time you drive, your exhaust emit tiny particles of metal

like platinum and rhodium, the platinum group metals. Now, these

are some of the most precious metals on earth. Found only in a handful of

places. Around 80% of all the platinum on our planet comes from

South Africa. Not only is it rare, it's incredibly difficult to get

out. To get a kilogram of pure platinum, you have two minor million

times that. These precious metals are often used in the catalytic

converters of cars where they help make save some of the more noxious

gases engines produce. The process of doing this, some of the rare

metals get mixed in with the dust on the road. What if you could recycle

it? That's exactly what one company is trying to do. It all starts with

a street sweeper who vacuums everything up. The rubbish goes to a

special recycling centre, the first of its kind in the UK. Richard is

technical director for the company involved. How do you start breaking

that down into its component parts? We have this process, the spider,

separating the different things by density, size, by metal content. A

lot of it is recycled and what is left is a kind of sludge. The metals

are in here. How much precious metal can you get out of these road

siblings? For this facility, 50,000 tonnes of input material, and we can

get 1.5 kilos of platinum. There is palladium, rhodium and other

metals, 500,000 tonnes of this material across the UK. 500,000

tonnes of rubbish is collected from the roads every year. The platinum

alone in that could fetch you close to half ?1 million. If it with

extracting this stuff or does it cost more to get out on the value of

the metal? The quantity is almost the same as it is when you mind at

the raw material, but we've already collected from the street so it's

worth it. So how do they extract precious metals from this pilot

sludge? -- pilot sludge. This chemical engineer has found a way.

The first thing we need to do is to drive that and then put through a

series of steps and you are left with a free-flowing powder. The

first step is isolating the metals, pour in the dust onto magnetised

drum. Turn on the magnet now for the any non-magnetic materials fall off

the drum materially but instantly for them this separates the dust

into two piles and the darker pile contains the metals we are after. We

have the magnetics on the right-hand side and the non-magnetics on the

left-hand side. The dust is refined further with electromagnets and some

clever chemistry. The powder is poured into water, a depressor

solution binds the unwanted dust to the liquid. Then what we are going

to do is to out our chemical. That's going to blow the metals to float to

the surface. To encourage them to the surface, air is pumped in.

Drying the mixture, you have an unremarkable pilot sludge. And how

much precious metal is in here? We're hoping to hit 60-100 parts to

a million, from less than one parts per million starting point. At these

concentrations, this is comparatively some of the best

platinum mines on earth. If you sent this to be smelted, what you get

back is this. This is a piece of raw platinum. This bit is worth about

?1000 and gram for gram, it's more valuable than gold. It's been

estimated that every year, we can collect millions of pounds worth of

precious metals from the roads. It makes it all seem worthwhile. That

is unbelievable. A good told us that sooner. That is fascinating for the

blue come on the One Show and you learn all this stuff. Yes, that's

changed my life. You're about to change somebody else's life, the

cars meet twin brothers Ross and Hugo Turner. Well, hello! Hold on,

Alan. One of them will be trekking across Greenland with the latest

technology and equipment. The other is doing the same trek, but with

equipment similar to what Ernest Shackleton used 100 years ago. You

can hear that wind noise too, can't you? Its atmosphere. The thing is,

Alan, the undecided who is going to be going with which kit, and that

decision is down to you. I can mess with their heads! Oh, right. So, no

pressure. All will be explained later on. OK, OK. Are you excited?

One will be in Tweed at -28. Yes, it is important, isn't it? When do I

pick? At the end. Yes, I am up for that, of course. We have had some

terrible weather. The South West has suffered more wet weather today. But

nothing in contrast to the relentless rain that devastated the

area earlier this year. Mike Dilger went to catch up with two families

to see how life on the farm is after the floods. Two months ago we went

to Somerset at the height of the floods. It is to vote every 12

hours, so it meant we had to start evacuating cattle. Now the water

levels subsided, I come to see if things are anywhere close to getting

back to normal. For James and his family. The cattle wandered out on a

bootable day like today. Explain the problems you have keeping them

inside. There is green around but it's deceiving. There's nothing very

productive. They can eat it, but it doesn't do them any good. With these

cards in buildings, if they are out to grass, it's more hygienic for

them. There's a of infection. Yes, more risk of pneumonia. Today the

Environment Agency begin to dredge the local river for the first time.

I'm really curious to find out if this is the silver bullet that's

going to stop the flooding or whether it's a question of too

little too late? Ian is one of those supervising the work. Have you

started now? And just started earlier? We had to wait until the

flood water receded and the banks became dry and stable enough for the

machinery. The government has given the Environment Agency ?20 million

to sort this out. But there has been criticism of the agency for being

slow to react and bring the excavators too late. We owe it to

the flooded people to think carefully about what we can do to

improve their prospects. And to spend public money wisely and

properly to make sure they don't flood again but unfortunately, it

would live on a flood plain, occasionally, it will flood. We met

these sheep farmers in Fabbri. They were heavily critical of the

Environment Agency. -- Fabbri. No one has visited the village from

Environment Agency. -- February. Dredging a starter today. I don't

have much confidence in the Environment Agency for some time,

certainly at the beginning, but this is a good beginning. , fun, family

home is still not dried out. So he's found alternative accommodation, a

mobile home. It's a bit of a squeeze to get it through the gap but

hopefully it will be right here. How are you? Look at this! Fabulous. May

I be one of the first to sit down? Jack, come and sit down. What do you

think? Bouncy? Not bad. James, Jenny and the kids don't expect to be back

in their home until Christmas. One year since the floods. The waters

may have finally receded but the flood continues to wreak havoc for

the farmers down here and I think everybody in the community is hoping

for a dry spring but, in the meantime, James and his family have

a warm, cosy house for the next six months. Can't say that of that. By,

guys. A wonderful backbone and resilience. Exactly. Now, can fill

is back on chatty -- Channel four for the busy, looking lovely. You

wouldn't dream about being rude about people 's clothes, unlike some

people. What are you wearing? Look at you turning up in a grey

something they wouldn't even have in TK Maxx. Who goes on a chat show in

a grey hooded top? I've watched it and thought Ricky Gervais, you

could've made an effort. That's the thing you wear if you add an ASBO.

So what we see tomorrow was recorded last night. Yes, the reason our that

husky is I was doing tequilas with Cameron Diaz last night. I'm not

name-dropping. I have changed for so what is she like? Gorgeous. She is

stunning in real life or sometimes, you get these big stars on and when

you see them up close, you are like, you know what I mean? She is

stunning in real life. She is a laugh. She says, we must go and have

a laugh together. She's really nice. Did you get her number? June odour

that last time? Lady Gaga said will he to hang-out together and I said,

yes, and I said give me your number, and you don't want to end up getting

tasted. Remember me? Know what I mean? You said we would go out for

drinks. You don't know what to do? Is a showbiz think it will we see

that on Friday? No, that in a few weeks time. We will see Enrique

Iglesias. Ruth Jones. And will.i.am. Here it is you trying to

impress Enrique Iglesias. Could I interview in Spanish?

SPEAKS SPANISH... Kylie Minogue. You said Kylie Minogue.

Have you been to Spain? Sometimes, it sounds like they got a

nut allergy. You never know, do you? But he understood what you are

saying. I'm bilingual. Are you enjoying being a chat show host more

than a stand-up comedian? The two are very different. I like the live

aspect of it, because on a chat show you how the editing. There's

something very liberating about just getting out there and it's done when

you come off stage. You get a standing ovation, flowers. No, no,

it's just nice. Yeah, I love the storytelling side of it. You can say

what you want for the business many jobs where you can go and people pay

to keep talking. You are back doing stand-up because the Comedy Gala is

back in May. It is at the O2. I think it is the 16th of May. Michael

McIntyre, Lee Evans and do you know what is great about this year? We

did it to raise money for Great Ormond Street. We are so close to

getting a room for the kids. This could be amazing. It is always a

brilliant night. There are all the greats. You name it. Chatty Man is

on Channel 4 tomorrow night at ten o'clock. Right now it is time for

another of our big decisions stories and they do not get much bigger than

Keith's. My name is Keith Hall. My wife

Isabel has been diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's.

Keith met Isabel when he was 17 years old on a blind date at a club

in Newcastle. She was stunningly dressed. Her eyes stood out. I knew

she was the girl for me. We used to go dancing and bowling. One time she

won a lovely legs competition. Isabel and Keith married when they

were both 22 and had three children, Daniel, Darren and

Leanne. Isabel was the life force of the family. She was a very good

mother. She was kind, considerate, very loyal to me and to the kids.

When did you realise there was something wrong with Isabel? Just

after our 50th birthdays in 2011. Isabel started doing strange things.

She would go to put a drink on the table and missed the table. One time

I gave her a coat to put on and she spun it around like a cape trying to

work out how to put it on. That is when alarm bells began to ring. An

MRI scan showed an early and rare form of Alzheimer's disease. Isabel

was just 51. It felt like the world had dropped out. She was devastated

at first asking, why my? She hadn't done anything wrong in her life. I

could not answer that. Within four months she struggled to climb the

stairs. She could not get in the bath and I was having to dress her.

The outline is also gave Isabel strange mood swings. She was

violent, kicking, punching. It got to the stage where I could not have

her back home. I needed full-time care. I could not do any more for

her. Keith visits is about three times a week and helps pay for her

care but now he has made a life changing decision for himself. That

is not my wife in that home. It is the shell of a woman I used to know.

There is no treatment. It is an incurable disease. She does not know

who I am. I am only 53. In theory, I could have another 25 years of

someone else. If the boot was on the other foot, I would want her to do

the same. You cannot sit back and live in the past. You have got to

live in the future. How did you explain your decision to your

children? I sat them down and told them one by one. They were quite

happy with it as long as I did not neglect them. I am used to my mum

being there but he has got to move on and do something with his life.

How are you finding dating? To find yourself on a date is difficult. It

is new territory all over again. Something I did when I was 17 or 18.

I know people will say I'm having an affair but circumstances are

different. My first reaction was, you are treading a dangerous path

there. You should stick with your wife, this that and the other, but

Keith has always stuck with Isabel. This is two or three years now for

Keith. I think unless you have been in his shoes you cannot comment. The

decision is a hard one to make because Isabel is still my wife but

there is no point in wasting two lives when Isabel's life is

virtually gone. I have still got a life to lead. And I have got to live

my life to the full. A very, very tough situation for all

of the family. We wish everybody all the best. If you would like more

information about Alzheimer's, we have put a link on our website.

Still to come, Alan here will be choosing which of the twin brother

explorers will be wearing which outfits across Greenland. It is a

Big Decision, Alan. I am terrified! We chose you because you are sort of

qualified because you have taken up skiing. Oh, please! I went skiing

for two days. It was terrifying! I cried. I went with this instructor

and he hated me. He was sixth at two and gorgeous. The last thing he

wanted to do was hold the hand of a sobbing homosexual who was being

overtaken by children in front of women he fancied. You never cried

when you are kids. -- you know that cry when you are a kid. I did that

from the top of the mountain. So you are not going again? No way! It was

agony. Never again. Don't listen, lads! There are many dangers skiing

when Alan is there or when adventuring in subzero conditions.

But thanks to one British man and his life-saving equipment, it is

much safer than it used to be. Brace yourselves. Of all the forces

of nature, avalanches are among the most terrifying. And this winter,

Scotland has seen more than 300 avalanches recorded. Colossal

volumes of snow have fallen, making it the whitest winter on the high

mountains for at least 69 years. You might expect mountain rescue teams

to be very busy. This year, casualties are down because the

amount of snow that has fallen have kept people away. Getting caught in

an avalanche is unforgettable. Surviving one, a lottery. Mountain

guide Mike Prescott did both in 2004. How did it feel? Horrible.

There is all sorts of advice about swimming backwards, it is rubbish.

You cannot do anything. I have a bit of a memory of it coming towards me

but then I was unconscious for ten minutes. Scotland helps save lives.

A traffic light system updated daily warns people of the risks. And

light, collapsible structures which can be carried in and out by

rescuers on foot in bad weather has made it easier and quicker to get

casualties off the mountain. One man is responsible for both innovations.

Hamish McInnes developed the avalanche information service and

invented the folding structure which now bears his name in the 1960s. It

is now on its seventh, most advanced version. That is the latest

composite which is used for Formula One cars. Very strong stuff. Hamish

McInnes led Glencoe's Mountain rescue team for many years,

attending countless falls on icy slopes. This climber lost his

footing, avoiding a flying piece of ice. He slides hundreds of metres,

the fall captured on his helmet camera. He survived but many

climbers are hurt or even killed in slides over ice. One fall can become

a life-threatening event. But a simple technique can halt a fall. A

crucial piece of equipment in this technique called a self arrest is an

ice axe, a basic multipurpose weapon in the winter mountain near's

armoury. Hamish McInnes also revolutionised the design of the ice

axe. Until the early 1960s, ice axe and had wooden handles which was a

problem. Basically, they broke. Hamish's idea was simple, to make

ice axe is all metal. The idea struck him after a serious incident

which cost the lives of three climbers. After we took the bodies

down we found the stumps of the ice axe is in the gully. The avalanche

risk is low in Hamish's beloved mountains today. I am using an all

metal ice axe. They are extensions of my arms and they help to climb

roots which would otherwise be impossible in winter conditions like

these. I am climbing solo, no ropes. A fall would plunge me over 300

metres, ounce and off the rocks which litter the slope on the way

down. Axes are not just good in ice, they will bite into frozen turf and

jam into cracks in the rock. As you can see, I am totally dependent on

the axis for the grip. The ice might fail, my arm might fail but the axis

will always hold fast. For that, Hamish, I am very grateful. Thank

you. That is your next challenge! I am

drawing the line! Thanks to Andy and of course to Hamish McInnes. The

Turner twins join us now. Ross and Hugo, lovely to have you here. You

are doing this epic challenge. Remind us of what you are going to

try and achieve. We will be tracking from the west coast of Greenland to

the east coast, following the Arctic Circle. We will be going over the

crevasse fields and we will be battling polar winds and an

ex-Soviet satellite station is amazing. You have not yet decided,

that is why Alan is here, who will be wearing which outfit. We will be

trekking in replica kit that Shackleton war because it is his

100th anniversary. You can see the old skis, the old wooden poles and

the trousers which look very similar to Alan's! Shackleton Chic! And then

you have got the carbon skis which are very different. The motivation

for doing this? I broke my neck seven years ago so I am always

supporting spinal research. They are an incredible charity trying to find

a cure to reverse paralysis so we are supporting them. The moment Alan

is here. Here are your pick axis. I feel sorry for him now, he has

broken his neck! You are going to put the scheme goggles on. -- ski

goggles. You have two picks. One says 1914 on it and the other says

2014. Stick one on each twin. Mix yourselves up. And when you are

ready... Be kind, Alan. Be kind? I cannot see. Am I warm? Getting

warmer. What is that? It is snowing, Alan! I feel like I have

got nits. That we are, round the other side. You never told me that,

that was horrible! How are we feeling about this? I am really

happy. What a privilege to do it in the old kit. Hugo, relieved? I do

not know what to think. I worried for him. We will keep up-to-date on

the website and follow all of your progress. You can see Alan on Chatty

Man on Channel 4 tomorrow night at 10pm. Tomorrow Chris and I will be

here with Kathleen Turner. Have a great evening. Goodbye.