How does our machinery help recycling?

How does our machinery help recycling?

We offer a comprehensive range of equipment which processes waste streams to enable the recycling of various materials. Our equipment portfolio can be categorised into shredders, screeners, sorters and washing plants. These different types of machines can be used as single-stage processors or can be combined to create a multi-stage process that separates the materials into reclaimable and recyclable commodities such as cardboard, wood, metals, plastic etc.

Below we look at the main waste types and what machinery and processes are used to process and recycle this waste.

Wood

Wood is one of the most commonly recycled materials, with over four million tonnes of waste wood being processed in the UK in 2021.

Waste wood has three main uses when recycled. It can be sent to biomass boilers to be burned to create energy (63%), it can be recycled back into the panel board market (26%), or it can be used in animal bedding (8%).

In each use case, the waste wood must first be shredded to specific sizes to meet the requirements of the end market. We provide both slow- and high-speed shredders which can be deployed to shred waste wood. Slow-speed shredders take the bulky waste wood and shred it down to a more manageable particle size, while high-speed shredder shreds the wood down to particular specifications using different-sized screening baskets.

Once shredded, the wood can be processed through one of our Eddy Current Separators, which will remove the ferrous and non-ferrous metals from the wood.

To meet the tight specifications of biomass plants, the shredded wood may need to be screened to separate the wood into sized fractions or remove the fine / dust fraction, leaving a clean wood chip product.

Organic Waste

Organic waste, including garden waste, mixed garden & food waste and other compostable waste, accounted for 15.8% of total waste from households. These waste types can undergo the composting process for recycling back into horticulture and farming.

Our machinery plays a key role in various stages of the recycling process. Firstly our slow- and high-speed shredders can be used to initially shred the waste. Shredding the waste makes it more uniform in size, aerates it, and makes it easier to handle and keep moist.

Our density separators can also be used to clean the waste product by removing the plastic and any other light contaminates.

Once the material has been through the composting process, the resulting compost then needs to be screened by our trommel screens to create the various qualities of compost.

Household Waste & Commercial / Industrial Waste

This waste type is typically the most varied and difficult to recycle. However, various processes and machinery can be utilised to separate certain commodities from the waste, and turn un-recyclable materials into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) products, and keep them out of the landfill.

As with many recycling processes, the first stage is to shred the material to a more uniform particle size to make it easier to handle and to further process.

Typically, the next stage would be to screen out the fine fraction of the waste, with the remaining material being sent through a picking station where commodities such as cardboard, plastic, wood etc., can be manually extracted and recycled.

The remaining material can then be processed through a density separator, where large fans are used to separate the waste into light and heavy fractions. The light fraction can then be sent to waste-to-energy plants, where it is burned to create energy.

Construction & Demolition Waste

Similarly to the processing of household waste, C&D waste will contain a number of valuable commodities that can be extracted and recycled. Our machinery can assist with this processing and extraction in several ways. Firstly, our trommel or deck screeners can screen the material to remove the fine fraction, making the resulting oversize material easier to handle and pick.

Once the material has had the fine fraction removed, it can either be sent through a picking station, where commodities can be manually collected, or it can be sent through a density separator where the light fraction (such as plastics, cardboard etc.) is removed.

The remaining material can then be recycled back into the construction industry as a hardcore material.

Aggregates & Sand

Sand is a finite resource and is globally the most consumed natural resource after air and water. The rising demand for natural sand comes at a cost, with 50 billion tons of sand being used annually across the globe.

We offer several solutions that can wash recycled aggregate and quarry by-products to produce in-spec materials such as sharp and coarse sand, as well as clean, sized aggregate products that can be sold into the construction and infrastructure sectors.

Our solutions include modular options, such as water baths that can clean and separate aggregate from organic contaminants. We also offer full static recycling plants where reclaimed aggregate or C&D waste is processed to produce clean and sized aggregate and sand products.