• Covering news and technical developments in the recycling, environmental, renewables and waste-to-energy markets

The implosion alternative
UK. The luxurious Grosvenor House hotel in Mayfair, London is leading the way in reducing costly waste vehicle journeys by taking advantage of a novel glass Implosion process. With around 500 guest rooms, six restaurants and a 2000-seat banqueting hall, the hotel can generate up to twenty 660-litre bins of empty bottles a day.
  The flagship Marriot hotel has been carrying out a wide ranging environmental review encompassing all waste, with the aim of increasing recycling and reducing landfill. There is also a commitment to reduce traffic congestion by minimising waste truck movements.
   The glass Implosion unit, invented by Dorset firm Krysteline, utilises a process that does not require the bottles to be emptied or the tops to be sorted prior to processing. Before the new system was installed the hotel was using three to four waste trucks a week.
   The Imploder densifies the glass up to approximately 5 per cent of its original volume, rendering it sharp free and producing an end product suitable for use as a recycled aggregate, or for further processing into high value products for industry.
   One additional advantage is that noise levels are significantly reduced during collection because the sound of tipping Imploded glass is similar to that of sand. Onsite storage space is also significantly reduced with obvious improvements in health and safety.
   |   11:22 03/08/2008

Test rigs for industrial waste
UK. Braby, leading manufacturer of stainless steel and aluminium silos, has developed test rigs for industrial waste. The skid-mounted modular units are designed to remove pollutants and reduce landfill, preventing harmful chemical waste from release. The company has already undertaken several projects to solve waste gas problems.
   Sales and marketing director Paul Mayer said that new EU air quality regulations had made it essential to constantly monitor the impact of waste processes on the environment. "The main purpose of the new technology is to provide a cleaner environment while supporting industry in utilising waste streams as fuels," explained Mr Mayer.
   Industries using alternative fuels, such as tyres, waste and industrial by-products as cheaper, alternative energy sources can find that it also produces harmful waste gas streams, which, if left untreated, cause serious pollution problems. European legislation demands that these pollutants be cleaned before release to atmosphere, an area where Braby has strived to develop its expertise.
   The company feels that its expertise in handling, storage, transfer and dosing materials with different flow characteristics places it in a unique position, a key resource for companies seeking assistance in this area. "Supporting customers who introduce new materials to their environmental process is a key part of Braby's offering," says Mr Mayer.
   By dosing various re-agents into gas streams and conducting reactions at temperatures which change chemical composition, harmful pollutants can be removed. The test rigs, available for short term hire, can handle a range of materials and dosing rates - running either manually or controlled by PLC linked to feedback from the emission stream
www.braby.co.uk
   |  10:57 03/08/2008

First PET washing line
Kazakhstan. Herbold Meckesheim GmbH recently commissioned a state-of-the-art washing line for PET bottles in Kazakhstan. The operator of the line, Vtorma Ecology, has also built the first big waste grading plant in Almaty, the largest city in the country.
   Positively sorted PET bottles are transformed by the line into high quality ground material, with machines designed to treat highly contaminated bottles from the waste grading plant. Offering a maximum input of 8000 t per year, the line has a number of processing steps which involve: debaling and pre-washing; additional sorting and metal separation; and wet size reduction and wet washing.
   During the first stage, polyolefines and PET flakes are separated, with hot washing ultra-filtration to remove glue from the washing water. A second stage involves hydrocyclone separation and drying with size reduction to achieve final granule size and a residual humidity of 1 per cent.
  This processing step is supported by sorting of the flakes to separate dust, fibres, paper and labels, resulting in an end product that is a high quality ground material that can be further treated and used for bottle to bottle applications, fibres and plastic strapping.
   The washing line concept is modular in nature and can be extended and adapted to meet customer demand or a particular material. Herbold washing lines are designed for an input of up to 16,000 t per year and an additional second washing line has been developed for PE film waste.
• Herbold Meckesheim is represented in the UK and Ireland by Colortronic (UK) Ltd.
   |   11:35 05/08/2008

Lead recycler upgrades plant
UK. H J Enthoven & Sons, one of Europe's largest producers of recycled lead, has chosen Ajax Equipment solids handling equipment for an upgraded smelting and recycling process for lead acid batteries at its Derbyshire, UK factory.
   The company's battery breaker is capable of a 50 tph throughput with a high degree of separation of battery components. A continuous smelting reverberatory furnace with flue gas desulphurisation equipment, coupled with short rotary furnaces, combine high efficiency, low operating costs and good environmental control. Ajax has modified storage hopper bottoms to improve reagent flow and is supplying screw feeders and conveyor systems to charge the main furnace.
   Enthoven is ISO 14001 certified and the investment in Ajax machines is part of an upgrade to the plant's recycling facilities, helping to meet high environmental standards and comply with increasingly stringent environmental requirements.
  Enthoven, part of EcoBat Technologies Ltd, one of the worlds largest lead groups, annually produces around 85,000 t of lead products in a variety of forms. The company also produces recycled polypropylene and gypsum products from components of scrap batteries.
www.ajax.co.uk
   |   18:14 17/07/2008

EC welcomes revised waste directive
Europe. The European Commission has welcomed the European Parliament's approval regarding the waste framework directive, regarded as the central pillar of EU waste management policy.
   According to European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas the legislation marks a shift in thinking about waste from an unwanted burden to a valued resource and helps make Europe a recycling society. Essentially, it introduces clearer definitions, greater emphasis on prevention of waste and ambitious new recycling goals. It is designed to resolve existing problems with interpretation, reducing the number of court cases and creating a sound legal basis for a functioning waste treatment sector.
   The revised Directive takes into account many of the changes proposed by the European Parliament. New recycling targets to be achieved by 2020 are set, including recycling rates of 50 per cent for household and similar wastes and 70 per cent for construction and demolition waste.
   Provisions for waste prevention are strengthened through an obligation to develop national waste prevention programmes. There is also a commitment from the Commission to report on prevention and set waste prevention objectives.
   A five-step hierarchy of waste management options puts prevention at the top of the list, followed by reuse, recycling, other forms of recovery and with safe disposal as the last option. A number of important definitions are clarified, such as recycling, recovery and waste itself and a line is drawn between waste and by-products. It also defines when waste has been recovered enough – through recycling or other treatment - to cease being waste.
   The Directive is also aimed at streamlining EU waste legislation by replacing three existing directives: Waste Framework Directive; Hazardous Waste Directive; and Waste Oils Directive.
   |   09:24 30/06/2008

Feeders improve ash removal
UK. Solids handling equipment specialist, Ajax Equipment Ltd has supplied 24 plug screw feeders to BioMass Engineering Ltd for handling ash removal from a gasification based renewable energy plant at Stoke-on-Trent, UK. They prevent oxygen entering the furnace during removal from the process's gasifier and filter.
   Owned by O-Gen UK Ltd, the reclaimed wood fuelled biomass plant produces energy from wood chippings, forestry wood and energy crops, providing power to the national grid. The three-stage process consists of fuel preparation (size and moisture), wood gasification and finally power and heat generation. Ash has to be removed from the gasification process as well as from gasifier exhaust gas filters for recycling into a useful by-product.
   Maintaining an oxygen-free gasifier is essential and BioMass Engineering has tried traditional screw feeders and airlock hoppers, but these allowed oxygen into the process. Ajax’s plug screw feeder removes material, but densifies it as it leaves the screw to create an impenetrable barrier.
  Eddie McGee, Ajax’s technical director, says that the system allows the client to run the process continuously, importantly, without oxygen entering the system. Jim Campion, BioMass’s MD, explained that the way Ajax approached the problem, and worked with the company to find the right solution, allowed overall process reliability to be improved. The renewable energy plant is due to come on stream in mid-2008.
Tel: +44 (0) 1204 386723
   |   21:22 10/06/2008

Recycling and waste under the spotlight
UK. The Recycling and Waste Management exhibition (RWM) takes place from 16 - 18 September 2008 at Birmingham’s NEC, UK. Over 450 companies are showing the latest recycling technologies and solutions.
   This year, in response to visitor and exhibitor feedback, the RWM’s free seminars take place in three separately themed theatres enabling visitors to customise the programme to suit their interests.
   Following its launch at RWM 07, the dedicated Talking Climate Change zone will once again provide a convenient opportunity to attend specialist seminars about the subject and speak to companies and organisations exhibiting there. Free sessions include practical information on energy and engineering for climate change, measuring carbon footprints and examples of how climate change can be addressed through recycling and waste management.
   A local authority seminar theatre will cover issues facing council waste and the recycling departments, contractors and reprocessors that they work with. Industry experts from both the public and private sector will give insight and guidance on upcoming legislation, kerbside collection and PFI projects using real case studies.
   Another business seminar theatre provides details of successful recycling initiatives in the areas of construction, retailing, manufacturing, logistics, packaging and food. RWM's expanding outdoor exhibition and demonstration area gives a live experience of latest vehicle and plant technologies.
   Also returning this year is RWM's dedicated conference where delegates pay to attend longer strategic sessions on a comprehensive range of subjects and issues, focusing on legislation, emerging market opportunities and growing impact of climate change.
To register call +44 (0) 1923 690663.
   |   11:43 30/05/2008

New metal sorting system
UK. Eriez Magnetics Europe, developer and manufacturer of process equipment for the recycling and secondary recovery industry, has introduced an advanced fines processing system called FinesSort. It is designed to provide cost-effective recovery of metals from classified fines in a scrap shredding operation.
   Fines typically represent minus ½ inch material screened from the process stream, which is usually too small to treat with conventional process equipment and subsequently sent to landfill. The new system recovers it.
   FinesSort features a feeder coupled to a magnetic separator and Eddy-current separator to produce both a ferrous and non-ferrous metal product. The feeder delivers a uniform feed distribution across the width of the magnetic drum separator, which recovers all ferrous materials in the process stream. Non-ferrous materials from magnetic separation are delivered to the Eddy-current Separator and recovered.
   Tim Shuttleworth, Eriez President and CEO, says that the unique feature of the system is the alternative it provides to further ferrous metal product processing with an optional second stage magnetic drum separator.
  Essentially, the high value product is the non-ferrous material recovered by the Eddy-current separator, not the weakly magnetic ferrous material recovered by the magnetic separator. Further processing of ferrous product may not be necessary and for this reason there is an optional second magnetic drum, which can be added if clean ferrous product is a priority.
www.eriez.com
   |   10:55 19/05/2008

Investment in eco-related company
UK. Low Carbon Accelerator Ltd (LCA) has committed a further £750,000 investment to Eco-Solids International, a company that has pioneered two groundbreaking technologies.
   CELLRUPTOR (formerly known as Bug Buster) is a highly efficient cell disintegration technology used as a cost-effective pre-treatment technology to enhance anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge and said to generate significantly more methane from waste treatments than other technologies. It can also be applied to other markets, such as food waste and paper pulp processing.
   ES-PROCESS is an advanced lime-stabilisation process for treating sewage sludge and other industrial wastes to destroy pathogens, the resulting output used as renewable construction materials such as blocks and aggregate. Markets in the developed world include traditional water and waste utilities, but opportunities are expected in the developing world as demand for better sanitation and water-saving treatments come to the fore.
   CELLRUPTOR technology can also be applied to the disruption of oil-bearing micro-algae, a novel approach which should enable biofuel extraction processes to remove oil from micro-algae quickly and more efficiently than other methods currently under trial, it is said. The company has also developed a new technology for treating landfill leachate and secured its first sale in the Philippines with further sales expected. The new funding allows sales efforts to be further extended into appropriate new territories.
   Eco-Solids management team has been strengthened with Kevin Breen joining as CEO and John Carolin as chief operating officer. Clive Rigden retains his role as executive chairman.
   |   21:13 28/04/2008