Starting in September 2013, SEPARATE aims to accelerate the market uptake of innovative separation and cleaning solutions for the recycling of all types of products contained in bio-wastes and Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). With the correct strategy and equipment, high quality bio waste can be removed from MSW to be used for anaerobic digestion and to create high quality fertilisers. DB Technologies, one of the partners of the project, has developed an alternative to traditional separation technologies that are being used around Europe.
Issues preventing market uptake of this waste separation method are:
- Lack of awareness of customers that there is an alternative solution for them to obtain higher quality organic material to meet their optimal recycling and anaerobic digestion needs.
- Lack of confidence in the new technology due to a lack of analytical data on the impact the technology has on incoming waste streams.
DB Technologies has developed a simple two stage process:
- Hydraulic Press to separate MSW into a wet organic fraction and a dry, non-organic fraction, with a 93-95% success rate.
- The organic fraction is then cleaned in a series of sink tanks to leave just 0.5-2% impurities.
The table below shows how much more effective this system is as opposed to the ‘shredding and sieving’ system commonly used within the UK.
|
Traditional |
SEPARATE |
| 63-65% effective at separating the organic matter from MSW | 93-95% effective at separating the organic matter from MSW |
| 10-12% undesirable material left in this matter | 0.5-2% undesirable material left in this matter |
| Undesirables destroy natural digesters and decrease effectiveness of the AD process | Less undesirables means an increase in efficiency in AD process |
| Average to poor compost possibility | Better quality compost possibility |
| No Dry Faction made at all | Dry Faction can be sold for profit |
Working with other European partners, two workshops led by Opportunity Peterborough will be held in the UK presenting a fully functional mobile machine to show customers how it works and what it can do. An indepth analysis of at least five European markets will be undertaken and used to replicate and grow this process. The hope is that 20,000 tonnes of bio-waste will be diverted from landfill and 5.46 Mio kWh of electricity is to be produced as a result of this project.
Read about the latest SEPARATE workshop held in Peterborough in May 2015, here.
For further details, please contact:
Samantha Demaio
+44 (0) 1733 317422
Samantha.demaio@opportunitypeterborough.co.uk
separate-wastesystems.eu
Funding/Support: CIP Eco-Innovation
