Displaying items by tag: UK

UK: RDF Industry Group has convened a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) industry working group to meet on a fortnightly basis to discuss the sectoral impacts of coronavirus. The Group said that it ‘is working with competent authorities to ensure the free flow of RDF is maintained.’ It acknowledged that RDF supply is essential to European cement production, adding, “The flow of RDF from the UK to off-take facilities in Europe is continuing, with the industry overall functioning well.”

UK: Alternative fuels producer Andusia has said that the coronavirus has yet to impact upon the trade of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in and out of Europe. It says it is monitoring the situation and will keep customers updated. “No change to service is anticipated,” said Andusia. “There are no border restrictions to trade and it is business as usual.”

UK: Germany-based HeidelbergCement’s subsidiary Hanson Cement will be the subject of a study in the use of biomass and hydrogen fuels coordinated by the Mineral Products Association. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is funding the Euro3.81m study, the results of which it says will be shared across the cement industry. HeidelbergCement CEO Dominik von Achten said, "In addition to our activities in the field of carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS), this project is an important step towards realising our vision of carbon-neutral concrete by 2050.”

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.

UK: Austrian shredder producer Lindner has released details about the installation of a Polaris 1800 shredder on the island of Guernsey in the English Channel. The machine was installed in early 2019 on behalf of Island Waste, part of the Guernsey Recycling Group, to produce solid recovered fuels (SRF). Upon delivery challenges had to be overcome including limited availability of hoisting equipment. At present he shredder processes around 8t/hr of municipal waste into SRF.

UK: Helvellyn Group, a manufacturer of high energy, low impact solid fuels, has announced the official launch of its cement industry direct coal replacement product in Europe.

Helvellyn has chosen the Global Cemfuels Conference (Paphos, Cyprus 19 - 20 February 2020) as the location for the launch and will be sponsoring the event as well as attending in person.

Helvellyn solid fuels are designed to meet the needs of hard to adapt large industrial plants that are seeking to reduce, or even eliminate, their reliance on coal. The fuels are manufactured to replicate the physical and combustion properties of coal, while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with mining, transporting and burning fossil fuels.

This latest renewable coal replacement fuel has been developed to address the specific needs of cement producers, many of whom have already introduced alternative fuels but are now struggling to increase the ratio due to physical, chemical and technical constraints.

Helvellyn’s product allows operators to maintain their existing alternative fuel mix while, in most instances, adding Helvellyn fuel as a direct drop-in replacement for coal from the point of delivery through pre-combustion processing and in combustion.

The Helvellyn fuel for cement production is based on four core principals, high energy, low moisture, low chlorine and ease of handling. While exact fuel specification and presentation can be fine-tuned to meet the specific needs of a given plant, fuel is typically presented as 50mm hard, hydrophobic lumps with the following properties: energy >25kJ/kg (10,750btu/lb, 5.97kcal/kg); ash content <6%; moisture <2%; chlorine <0.07%; carbon >60%; sulphur <0.2%; nitrogen <0.4%.

Frank Harris, CEO of Helvellyn Group, said, “We are delighted to be launching this important product at the Global Cemfuels Conference 2020. The cement industry has shown innovation and leadership in utilising alternative fuels and we believe we can help them to meet the challenges of the next decade as they further reduce the environmental impact of their product. We are excited to meet with the industry and let it see our fuel for the very first time - it is like nothing they will have seen before.”

Netherlands: Waste management service N+P has said that it will aim to supply 1.2Mt of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) to UK recipients expected to include cement producers. It will release full details of the contracts in question in early 2020. N+P said that due to import tax it would seek to supply its Netherlands contracts with waste from sources other than the UK.

UK: Germany-based shredders supplier Untha has reported that it has recieved an order from Lancashire Waste Recycling for an Untha XR3000XC for its Burnley line, where it produced solid recovered fuel (SRF) for the cement industry. The plant already operates with an XR3000C and an XR3000XC, while Lancashire Waste Recycling’s Fleetwood plant uses an XR2000 pre-shredder, an XR3000C and an XR3000XC.

UK: Waste processing specialist Re-Gen Waste has invested Euro5.78m in expanding its 80,000t/yr capacity refuse-derived fuel (RDF) processing plant on the Carnbane industrial estate in County Down. Irish News has reported that the expansion will create 30 new positions when the facility, which processes municipal solid and unrecyclable household waste into substitute fuel for cement kilns, becomes fully functional in November 2019. Managing director Joseph Doherty emphasised the importance of the project in bringing the UK closer to the responsible treatment of its 27Mt/yr mixed domestic refuse output “as a resource with a home in our economy.”

UK: CRH companies Tarmac and Sapphire Energy Recovery have installed a waste-derived fuel processing unit at the Tunstead cement plant in Derbyshire. The unit will produce 'specialised fuel,' a type of solid recovered fuel (SRF) for the cement plant.

"Using waste-derived fuels is well established in the industry but having our own fuel processing plant on site is a first for us. This project from initial concept to actual results, has been a fantastic collaborative experience between Sapphire's commercial, technical, operational and environmental teams, with strong support from the Tarmac kiln and permitting teams,” said David Wilson, Sapphire’s commercial manager. He added that the companies can adjust the blend and amount they use to suit the production process.