Lancashire Renewables

Lancashire Renewables Optimises Recycling with CRJ’s Complete Processing Solution

Lancashire Renewables Limited, owned by Lancashire County Council, operates two Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plants in Thornton and Farington. These facilities process municipal waste from local residents, recovering recyclable materials and reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill. At the Farington plant, the facility receives an average of 900 tonnes of comingled material per week, including plastic, paper, card, cans, and mixed glass. Approximately 200 tonnes per week was previously rejected as unrecyclable.

The Challenge: Maximising Recovery and Reducing Costs

Lancashire Renewables wanted to improve the recovery of valuable materials from the reject stream and reduce disposal costs. Rob Symons, Sales Director at CRJ Services, visited the Farington site to evaluate the waste streams and operational requirements. It was clear that a tailored solution was needed to recover as much material as possible from the substandard fraction and ensure that no recyclable material was unnecessarily sent to landfill.

The Solution: Trommel, Picking Station, and Eddy Current Separator

CRJ proposed a three-machine solution:

• Doppstadt SM518 Trommel – The first stage separates the fine fraction (sub 40mm), primarily glass. This material is bundled into a mixed-grade glass product and sent to an off-taker.
• Kiverco Picking Station – Oversize material from the trommel is fed into the picking station, where two operatives manually remove incompatible items such as WEEE, metals, and bulky objects. An overband magnet then captures smaller metallic pieces. These smaller metals are inspected for quality: if high enough, they are baled and sent to an off-taker; if quality is poor, they are reprocessed separately through the MRF, baled, and then sent out.
• Steelweld Eddy Current Separator – The remaining material leaving the picking station is fed directly into the Steelweld Strobe ECS. The separator uses powerful magnets to extract both ferrous and non-ferrous metals from the waste stream. The cleaned, non-metallic material is then transferred to another area where it is shredded and sent out as RDF material. The metals removed via the ECS are assessed for quality, with high-quality metals baled and sent to an off-taker.

Integrated Efficiency

As shown in the video, the three pieces of equipment seamlessly integrate, reducing the need for multiple material handling stages. By implementing this solution, Lancashire Renewables are able to recover the maximum amount of reclaimable material from the 200 tonnes of previously rejected waste each week. This not only reduces disposal costs but also increases the overall efficiency and sustainability of their Farington operation.