Sweden: N+P has signed a five-year contract to supply HC Miljö, a subsidiary of Heidelberg Cement, with Subcoal pellets. HC Miljö will supply Subcoal pellets to a number of cement kilns in northern Europe. The Subcoal will be used as an alternative fuel.

Subcoal will initially be supplied from N+P’s production site Subcoal Production FRM in the Netherlands. The site uses the Subcoal process to convert various industrial wastes into an alternative fuel. The process is focussed on using non-recyclable paper-plastic waste fractions, mainly sourced from the Netherlands, the UK and Germany.

UK: Axion Polymers has added two new alternative fuels to its existing range of solid recovered fuel (SRF) products. Axfuel High CV Polychip Grades A and B are fully-processed and technically-separated fuels. Grade A has a net calorific value of 40kJ/g similar to powdered petcoke. Grade B has a net calorific value of 26kJ/g with a greater mix of other materials such as wood and rubber.

Both products are derived from end-of-life automotive and electrical waste resource streams. They have low moisture, chlorine and ash content. They are manufactured as part of Axion’s large-scale materials recycling system.

“In line with our principles of treating alternative fuels from waste as products, we ensure that they are of consistently high quality to meet the technically-demanding specifications of our end markets,” said Axion Polymers Director Keith Freegard.

South Korea: Researchers at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) have created a waterless toilet system that can convert human waste into biofuels. The system is part of a new outdoor creative laboratory, called Science Walden Pavillion, that opened to the public on 25 May 2016.

"Our ultimate goal is not only for the new toilet system to save water and operational costs for wastewater treatment plants, but for us to establish an ecosystem that supports technology innovation and drives economic diversification where human waste literally has a financial value," said Professor Jaeweon Cho, Director of Science Walden Pavillion.

The waterless toilet system uses a biological process to break down human waste into a dehydrated odourless compost-like material. It is then transferred to a digestion tank, containing thousands of different microbes. The microbes inside the tank biodegrade the powdered human manure to generate carbon dioxide and methane. Using high pressure and a membrane system, carbon dioxide is extracted to culture green algae for biofuel while methane is stored for later use as a heating fuel.

The project aims to reduce urbanisation's negative footprint on ecosystems by safely converting human waste into viable renewable energy, possibly with a monetary value.

If this experiment succeeds, the team plans to expand its use of the waterless toilet system and microbial energy production system in real life. This project has been carried out in collaboration with YATOO, Art Center Nabi, Paju Typography Institute and Hankuk Engineering Consultants in South Korea.

Thailand: General Environmental Conservation (GENCO) plans to build a 100,000t/yr refuse-derived fuel (RDF) plant in Map Ta Phut, Rayong province. The project will have an investment of US$5.6m and will start production in the first quarter of 2017. RDF from the plant will be sold to cement plants, according to the Bangkok Post.

"GENCO will be the first company in Thailand to produce RDF to be sold to factories. The company will eventually increase its capacity to more than 100,000 tonnes to meet rising demand," said GENCO managing director Ronnachai Tantragoon.