Displaying items by tag: UK
Marcus Brew appointed managing director of Untha UK
02 February 2016UK: Untha UK has appointed Marcus Brew as its new managing director. Brew was previously the sales director. The previous managing director since 1997, Chris Oldfield, will become the company chairman.
"Having been a part of the business for seven years, it is a pleasure to now lead the company through our next phase of growth. In truth, Chris and I won't feel much of a change, as we've both been concentrating on these responsibilities for some time – the new titles are really just a formality," commented Brew.
Wastecycle expands site and takes on 20% more staff
10 December 2015UK: Wastecycle's recycling facility in Colwick, Nottinghamshire is now one of the largest in the UK after an expansion of the site. By acquiring seven acres of property, which the company previously leased, and buying an additional four acres, Wastecycle has extended its site to nearly 20 acres.
"It's an exciting time for us because this expansion provides us with the platform we need to reach the next stage of growth as a company," said Financial Director Nathan Cole. "Over the long term, we plan to use the additional land to expand our extensive recycling and resource management activities. This will help us broaden the services we offer our customers while improving the quality and sustainability of the recycled products we manufacture."
The company has also completed an expansion of its main office to accommodate its growing workforce. After a 20% growth in staff 2015, it now employs almost 300 people across its Colwick site and its two sites in Leicestershire. "Ensuring our teams are comfortable in their working environments is very important to us because, not only does it increase productivity, but it also creates positive morale," said Cole. "Larger premises also provide the opportunity to open up new jobs, while improving the quality of service we can provide to customers."
Wastecycle separates 500,000t/yr of waste, including 18,000t/yr of recycling from 126,131 homes in the Nottingham City Council area. Some of the waste is turned into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for use at cement plants. It also sorts through the rubbish of thousands of businesses across Nottinghamshire, runs a skip hire service and operates a wallboard recycling facility, which it developed with British Gypsum.
In 2014, Wastecycle's turnover increased to Euro42.8m from Euro35.9m in 2013. In 2015, it won four awards, including a bronze environmental best practice accolade at the Green Apple Awards in November 2015. It was recognised for the success of its wallboard recycling scheme, which has prevented more than 30,000t/yr of wallboard from reaching landfill.
Suez launches new solid recovered fuel plant with Cemex Rugby
21 September 2015UK: International recycling and waste management company Suez opened a new solid recovered fuels (SRF) plant in Rugby, UK on 18 September 2015. It will supply the Cemex Rugby cement plant with SRF for the next 25 years.
Suez's SRF plant will convert waste from across Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and the wider Midlands area into Climafuel®. Suez will supply Cemex with 240,000t/yr of Climafuel; 200,000t/yr from its SRF plant in Rugby and 40,000t/yr from its SRF plant in Birmingham.
The Rugby SRF plant was built as part of a 25-year deal between Suez and Cemex that was signed in 2012. Suez leased land opposite Cemex Rugby from Cemex in 2013 and construction of the Euro25m SRF facility began in 2014. The commissioning of the equipment took place earlier in 2015.
The SRF facility can process up to 300,000t/yr of waste. Around 70% of the input material comes from businesses in the region, while the remaining 30% is household waste, much of it originating from Northamptonshire County Council. The majority of the waste would otherwise be destined for landfill, but the SRF process enables Suez to extract recyclable materials, which, processed any other way, would be too contaminated to viably recycle.
"We are very pleased to officially open the Rugby SRF facility and formally mark the start of this long-term partnership between Suez and Cemex," said Jean-Marc Boursier, senior executive vice president of Suez in charge of the recycling and waste recovery division for Europe. "Suez is investing considerably in infrastructure to produce sustainable industrial fuels in the UK. The group now supplies 1.1Mt/yr of SRF worldwide. This solution gives us the ability to extract recyclable materials that would otherwise have been lost. It provides Cemex with a sustainable, long-term alternative to fossil fuels. This inauguration is a symbol of our commitment to the production of renewable energy fuels. Energy derived from SRF offers numerous advantages, because it is renewable, transportable, abundant and economically attractive."
UK: Axion Polymers has invested significantly in new laboratory and testing facilities to ensure consistent quality of its solid recovered fuel (SRF) products and to satisfy the stringent standards of its technical end markets.
It has installed a laboratory-scale furnace at its large-scale processing facility, Shredder Waste Advanced Processing Plant (SWAPP), in Trafford Park, Manchester to enhance accurate measurement and testing of the physical and thermal properties of its Axfuel® SRF 30, an alternative fuel used by the cement industry, among others.
Axion has also recruited a quality control team working within ISO 9001 operating procedures to conduct in-house product testing, including analysis on critical aspects such as SRF calorific value and chemical composition. Samples are sent on a weekly basis to external laboratories for further testing and verification.
Derived from automotive shredder residue, Axfuel SRF 30 is a sub 30mm-sized mixture of textiles, fibre-fluff, plastic, foam and rubber, with a gross calorific value of 18 - 22MJ/Kg and available in large tonnages.
"We have made this important investment because alternative fuels from waste need to be treated as a product, not as a waste. If SRF is to deliver the fuel benefit and meet the technically-demanding specifications of our end markets, it has to be of consistently high quality so customers can buy with confidence," said Axion director Roger Morton. "By operating within strict quality controls, we can ensure our reliable supply of SRF is produced to exceptionally high standards. As this fuel is sourced from end-of-life vehicles, giving it a second life as an alternative high-energy feed is going to be an attractive option for companies who want to demonstrate their environmental credentials."
UK: Jacqueline O'Donovan, managing director of London's waste management company O'Donovan Waste Disposal, has won the prestigious Institute of Directors' (IoD) London and South East Family Business Director of the Year award. O'Donovan was recognised for being a leader in her field and setting the benchmark in terms of best practice across both logistics and waste operations.
"I'm so honoured to have been recognised as Family Business Director of the Year by the IoD. It's one of the most prestigious accolades to achieve at a personal level in business. I'm thrilled that my commitment and passion for improving standards, safety and training has not only filtered across our team but the industry as a whole," said O'Donovan.
O'Donovan Waste Disposal is focused on handling the construction and demolition waste produced across London and the South East. Established in 1959 by her late father Joe, Jacqueline joined the family business at the age of 17 and took the managing director role at 19. She has grown the business to turn over Euro19.1m/yr and has been recognised as an exemplar for best practice by Transport for London and London Mayor Boris Johnson.
Following this award win, Jacqueline will now represent the London and South East region at the national ceremony later in 2015.
Mid UK Recycling plans SRF plant expansion
22 May 2015UK: Mid UK Recycling Limited plans to extend its Wilsford Heath waste management facility at Ancaster, South Kesteven in Lincolnshire. If its plans are approved, the plant would recycle up to 350,000t/yr of waste mattresses and plastics.
Chris Mountain, managing director, said that the investment could run into 'multiple millions' of Euros. "We are an existing business, we employ 350 people in Sleaford, Caythorpe and the Ancaster site," said Mountain. "We will put in the main planning proposal in the next three months and as soon as we get the green light we'll start straight away." He said that initially the company wants to start by the end of December 2015, although it may take three years to complete the expansion. "We have been four years developing the site next-door, which is full to capacity now," he said. "The range of products we produce is getting wider and wider. It makes no sense to export those jobs out of the county."
There would be a building for machinery that could break down mattresses into resalable parts. Leftovers would form solid recovered fuel (SRF) products, which could by cement plants and power stations. Another building would be created for packing and storing gypsum from recycled wallboard, which would be sold to supermarkets as cat litter. The business would also bring in a new way of recycling rigid plastics, breaking them down into granules to sell to Lincolnshire manufacturers of drainage pipes, water pipes and car parts.
UK: Saxlund International has collaborated with Hope Construction Materials to install and commission a new waste-derived fuel solution for Hope Construction Materials' cement plant in Derbyshire, UK. The solution has been designed to provide storage, transportation, weighing and injection of solid waste fuel (SWF) to the two kilns. The goal is to increase the rate at which Hope can replace fossil fuels with waste-derived alternatives to more than 50%, a key part of its long-term sustainability targets.
The project incorporates a fuel reception and push-floor storage solution, reclaim conveyors, process tower with drum magnet and star screen, together with a weighing and pneumatic injection system to the main burners. The system facilitates stable and reliable process conditions to help minimise build-up in the pre-heater tower. It also offers a 'future-proof' solution with the flexibility to handle changing fuel characteristics and different types of waste-derived fuels, should suppliers change in the future.
"This is a flagship project for us. Once fully operational, the new solid waste fuel (SWF) system will run on a 24/7 basis delivering fuel at a rate of up to 5t/hr to each kiln," said Matt Drew, managing director Saxlund International. "It means that Hope Works will soon be operating with a significantly larger proportion of waste-derived fuels, in the process diverting up to 80,000t/yr of bulk solid waste from landfill and representing significant carbon savings to the business."
UK: Freightliner Heavy Haul (FHH) has renewed its rail haulage agreement with EDF Energy in the UK. The agreement will see an increase in contracted volumes and secures the capacity, service performance and flexible offer that FHH have demonstrated in previous contracts.
"This contract renewal builds upon our long term relationship with FHH and secures the level of service performance and flexibility that we require to meet the future challenges in the ever-changing energy market," said Paul Cooke, fuel operations manager at EDF Energy.
UK: Environment minister Mark H Durkan and Devendra Mody, industrial director at Lafarge Tarmac, have signed an agreement allowing the use of waste-derived fuels (WDF) at Lafarge Tarmac's cement plant in Cookstown, Northern Ireland. The plant, which employs 86 people, currently uses coal for approximately 95% of its fuel. The agreement will see Lafarge Tarmac substitute up to 35% of its coal with WDF.
"The agreement will turn environment issues from barriers to business into economic growth opportunities. The deal is that the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) firmly regulates and reduces red tape. In turn, partner companies invest heavily in the environment," said Durkan. "Lafarge Tarmac is committing significant investment in the environment. In addition to many environmental benefits, it will reduce its carbon emissions from production by a minimum of 10%, equivalent to taking 6500 cars off the road. It will look at ways to reduce emissions from its transportation chain and has also committed to improving public access to rare geological features found in the Ballysudden Area of Sepcial Scientific Interest (ASSI), located in its Cookstown quarry and to work with key stakeholders to develop a renewable energy strategy and examine options for reducing packaging."
Commissioning to start at new UK SRF facility
12 February 2015UK: SITA UK has completed the construction of its Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) manufacturing plant at Malpass Farm in Rugby, Warwickshire. The plant will undergo a series of commissioning tests over the next few months before starting full-scale production of Climafuel SRF. This will be used to power the kiln at the adjacent Cemex UK Rugby cement plant.
The residual waste material arriving at the site will primarily be collected from commercial and industrial businesses across the region that would otherwise go to landfill. Once received on site any metals, plastics and paper will be extracted for recycling. Similarly, materials with a high chlorine content, which could damage the kiln, will also be extracted. Any residual waste material that is removed from the production process will be processed into refuse derived fuel (RDF) for use in waste-to-energy applications.
To produce the SRF, the remaining material is sifted, shredded and blended while being continuously analysed using infrared technology. This allows the plant operators to ensure that the fuel, which has a confetti-like consistency after processing, has the precise chemical composition and calorific value required by Cemex UK.
SITA UK's Head of Alternative Fuels, Andy Hill, said, "The residual waste material that will be delivered to this facility would have gone to landfill but, instead, we are going to take out anything that can be recycled and then turn what's left into a replacement fuel."
"We have been producing this fuel very successfully at our sister plant at Landor Street in Birmingham for the past couple of years, but this new facility implements the latest technology and will substantially increase our production capacity," continued Hill. "Between the two plants, we'll be producing around 250,000t/yr of Climafuel."
SITA UK is currently also investing in new SRF manufacturing facilities at the Port of Tilbury in Essex, which are currently under construction. SITA UK currently supplies SRF to CEMEX UK and to CEMEX Latvia.