Displaying items by tag: Geminor

Norway: Geminor processed 67% of waste that it handled in 2021 into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and solid recovered fuel (SRF). The company said that the figure represents a 3% decline from 2020 levels. It handled a total of 1.73Mt of waste in nine European countries in 2021.

CEO Kjetil Vikingstad said “The Covid year 2021 has been another challenging year for the European waste industry in terms of volumes, logistics, transport and varying market mechanisms. The RDF market, in particular, has differed with lower volumes in circulation due to reduced exports from countries such as the UK and Finland. At the same time, other countries - such as Poland, Denmark, and Italy - have experienced growth, which has helped obtain a balance in the market.”

Norway: Geminor has signed a contract with Renovasjon i Grenland to handle and treat 7000t/yr of municipal solid waste (MSW) for two years to 2023 with an option to extend to 2026. The MSW will be transported to Geminor's partner in the project, Bjorstaddalen Næring. This company will process the waste at its Skien plant in Telemark. The plant uses robotic sorters that can perform up to 6000 picks/hr. The unit also uses ‘unique’ sensor technology that enable shape, colour and material identification. This system can also be taught to recognise new fractions.

Bjorstaddalen Næring chief executive officer Sindre Hauen said “Better sorting means better use of materials.” He added “In case of new market opportunities - or even regulations - the system can be taught to recognise new fractions. We want to be in front when it comes to robot sorting, and are constantly looking for better solutions in our waste management.”

Denmark: Norway-based Geminor has established a solid recovered fuel (SRF) production line with a capacity over 40,000t/yr at its Hub waste processing plant in Aalborg. The line will shred and mix municipal solid waste from the region. Geminor will supply 120,000t of SRF to Aalborg Portland Cement over a three year period starting from January 2021. The line includes a chain feeding conveyor supplied by Westeria, a Metso 4000-8 pre-shredder, a Steinert magnetic sorter and a Metso 3550 fine shredder. Aalborg Portland Cement is targeting a 75% SRF substitution rate at its Aalborg cement plant over the period.

France: Norway-based Geminor subsidiary Geminor France has dispatched a truckload of solid recovered fuel (SRF) to a cement plant in Spain. The SRF is made from wood and textile foam from used furniture. The company says that the delivery is the first of continual 100t/week of exports to the producer. It is also exporting waste-derived fuels from France to other countries in Europe including Denmark.

Senior account and development manager Kai Schöpwinkel said, “There is a positive development at the moment in regards to better collecting and sorting of French waste. Now there is a focus on increasing the combustion capacity for energy recovery, and new waste-to-energy plants are being developed. Stricter requirements from the Government and the European Union (EU) also give incentives to develop high-quality fractions such as SRF based on furniture. The goal is to reduce landfill by 50% by the end of 2025, which will also make France into a growing market for export.” He added, “Covid-19 is leading to a waste deficit in the European market, which is now contributing to the opening of new waste streams from France. We believe this is just the beginning of a growing waste export from this country.”

Norway: Synthetic fuel producer and chemical waste management specialist Quantafuel has bought a 40% stake in Geminor from Geminor Invest. The owners of Geminor Invest, chief executive officer (CEO) Kjetil Vikingstad and chief operation officer (COO) Ralf Schöpwinkel, will retain a 60% share of Geminor.

Vikingstad said “With Quantafuel as a partner we hope to achieve our goal of becoming a leading player in material recycling and energy recovery in Europe. In collaboration with Quantafuel we want to increase the proportion of plastic for material recycling, and by this actively contribute to a circular economy for plastics in Europe.” He added, “Together, the companies form a value chain from the collection, sorting and treatment of plastic waste all the way to the process of chemical recycling. Plastic will now become more important for Geminor, but the company also has a clear strategy to develop fractions and streams within waste wood, refuse-derived fuel (RDF), solid recovered fuel (SRF) and paper.” He said that the company will continue to develop more sustainable waste fractions and extract more waste plastic for chemical recycling.

Geminor Invest chair Arne Haldorsen said “The international community has major challenges within waste management, especially when it comes to handling ever-increasing amounts of plastic waste. To meet these challenges the waste industry is becoming more industrialised, and new recycling solutions are currently being developed internationally. Geminor wants to be a key player in this process, something we hope to achieve with Quantafuel as a partner and co-owner.”

Denmark: Norway-based Geminor says that it has secured a 120,000t solid recovered fuel (SRF) supply contract with Aalborg Portland Cement. Under the terms of the contract, the company will supply the producer with 40,000t/yr of SRF from 2021 until 2023, with an option for another two years. As a result, Geminor subsidiary Geminor Waste Treatment has invested Euro1.50m in establishing a new SRF production line in Aalborg. The company said, “full capacity for deliveries will be in place” in early 2021.

Geminor Denmark country manager Kasper Thomsen said, “We are very pleased to extend our cooperation with Aalborg Portland Cement, which has been running for several years already. This agreement entails a significant increase in volumes and constitutes a natural development of our collaboration.” He added, “Together with Aalborg Portland Cement we will sort, design and "fine-tune" a waste fraction that meets strict requirements regarding chlorine, biomass and other content. A goal in the long run is to create a good replacement for both petcoke and coal, and thus deliver in line with existing climate goals and the recent Danish waste regulations.”

Sweden: Norway-based Geminor received a batch of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) produced at its Braunsbedra plant in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany for use at Scandinavian cement plants on 23 April 2020. The shipment was Europe’s first international shipment of RDF by rail, without the use of trucks. Geminor plans for the 110t delivery to be the first of many on the 50,000t-capacity line. Geminor CEO Kjetil Vikingstad said, “Since transport by ship is only effective within a radius of 200km from a port, central Germany becomes a natural starting point for
transport by train. This is the beginning of extensive waste transport by train in
Europe.”

UK: Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) exports from England to decline by 13% to Europe fell by 13.4% year-on-year to 2.71Mt in 2019 from 3.09Mt in 2018. Waste recovery company Germinor reported the results of the survey from Footprint Services, which uses UK Environment Agency data. However, the report also said that exports of solid-recovered fuel (SRF) grew by 4%.

According to the Environment Agency data, the Netherlands remains the biggest importer of English waste-derived fuels (RDF and SRF), with 1.16Mt and 43% of the market in 2019. Sweden is the second biggest offtaker nation with 0.6Mt, followed by Germany at 0.4Mt and Denmark at 0.14Mt and Norway at 0.14Mt.

Geminor said that it led the list of waste-derived fuels exporters in 2019 with 0.31Mt in 2019. Biffa Waste Services was the second biggest exporter, followed by SUEZ UK and N&P Alternative Fuels.

Its UK country manager James Maiden said that 2019 was a challenging market for UK export, mostly due to issues surrounding Brexit, the Dutch temporary import restrictions and an increase in UK domestic capacity and facilities. He expected these conditions to continue into 2020, where the Dutch and Swedish tax announcements will impact on UK flows. Maiden said that the English export market is decreasing but that Geminor was balanced this with additional export volumes transported from Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland and internal UK flows.

Norway: The resource management solutions provider Geminor has acquired its competitor Rekom. The latter has outstanding contracts for the management of 0.1Mt/yr of waste, which represent a 20% increase in Geminor’s current workload, the company has stated. It adds Rekom’s logistics and processing facilities in Norway to its own across Scandinavia and in Germany, Poland and the UK. Kjetil Vikingstad, Geminor CEO, said the acquisition, which was not strategically planned, was nonetheless in keeping with the company’s Nordics growth strategy, giving it ‘a company volume which makes it an attractive alternative to municipal companies and recycling facilities for materials recycling and especially for energy recovery.’

Italy: Geminor began exporting refuse-derived fuel (RDF) by freight train from its RDF-processing plant in Naples to Aalborg Portland Cement’s 2.1Mt/yr Rørdal integrated cement plant in October 2019. Geminor Germany and Italy Country Manager Andreas Hefler stated that the conveyance of 10,000t/yr of RDF in trainloads of 400t, though not significantly time-saving, represented an efficient and sustainable alternative to shipping and trailers. “We hope that others in the waste industry follow suit in transporting by electric train,” said Hefler.