Paving the path away from Landfill
Cireco Scotland is one of Scotland’s leading waste management providers, operating as a commercial enterprise backed by Fife Council. Serving a diverse range of clients, including businesses of all sizes and local authorities, Cireco delivers quick, convenient, and environmentally friendly waste management solutions. For over a decade, Cireco has partnered with Blue Machinery (Scotland) to transform its waste processing capabilities. Building on the success of a dry mixed recycling materials recovery facility (MRF) at their Lochhead site, Cireco has once again placed its trust in Blue Scotland to deliver a new, cutting-edge MRF at their Ladybank facility. Cireco processes a variety of waste streams at Ladybank, including local authority Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste, Commercial and Industrial (C&I) waste, and mixed skip waste from their skip hire business. Historically, bulky waste posed significant challenges, often being sent to landfill due to its incompatibility with waste-to-energy plants. To address these challenges, Blue Scotland collaborated with BlueMAC Manufacturing to design and install a state-of-the-art recycling facility. The facility boasts an efficient, multi-step process for handling waste. Waste is loaded into the Metso 6000 pre-shredder, reducing material size for subsequent mechanised separation. An inline magnet extracts ferrous metals before materials proceed to the Spaleck scalping screen. The scalping screen separates materials over 200mm, which are directed to a manual sorting station to recover the materials into five dedicated product bays. Material under 200mm moves through a long-part separator and a Spaleck Combi Screen, producing three fractions: -10mm fines, 10-60mm mid-size material, and +60mm oversize. Ferrous and non-ferrous metals are extracted from the mid-size fraction using magnets and an eddy current separator. Remaining material undergoes windshifting to separate heavy fractions from light materials. The +60mm material is processed by a double-drum Nihot windshifter, creating three streams: a clean heavy fraction, a wood-rich mid fraction, and light materials for waste-to-energy. Heavy fractions and mid fractions undergo manual quality control to ensure product purity. Earlier this year, the facility integrated Tomra optical sorters, significantly boosting its throughput and precision. With this advanced technology, the MRF now processes between 30-50 tons of material per hour, achieving ambitious recycling targets. The facility recycles the vast majority of its incoming waste, with only a small fraction of residual waste being sent to waste-to-energy plants. Robin Baird, Chief Executive Officer at Cireco Scotland, expressed his enthusiasm for the project: “Our new state-of-the-art recycling facility enables us to recycle a large proportion our incoming waste. With the Scottish landfill ban on the horizon, waste-to-energy has become the sole outlet for residual waste. This innovative plant has eliminated our reliance on landfills, firmly aligning us with Scotland’s sustainability goals. I’d like to thank Blue Machinery (Scotland) for their dedication and expertise in making this exciting project a reality. This is, without a doubt, our most impressive recycling facility to date.”
The New BlueMAC Recycling Plant at Lowmac Waste & Recycling
The Customer: Lowmac Recycling was founded in 1973, starting life trading in secondary metals. In 1981, the company moved into waste management with the introduction of skip and roll-on-off hire for household, commercial and industrial waste collection. The company has a secure shredding facility in Ayr and operates two purpose-built waste treatment sites in Irvine from where the company provides a large range of environmental and recycling services. These include ferrous and non-ferrous metals recycling, ELV, WEEE collection and processing, green waste processing, wood and general waste recycling, reclamation of recycled aggregates and soils and the production of animal bedding and biofuel. The Challenge: The challenge was to increase the company’s waste processing capabilities and enhance the cleanliness and quality of the end-products created during the recycling process. The Solution: After going through a competitive tender process, Lowmac Waste & Recycling invested in an extremely versatile, tailor-made waste recycling plant. The plant currently processes a wide variety of incoming waste streams at around 1000 tonnes per week at a rate of between 25 and 30 tonnes per hour and is more than capable of greater volumes should future needs arise. The new BlueMAC waste recovery system, designed and built to combine a series of compatible processors and conveyor arrays in a convenient and compact under-cover configuration, can treat a broad range of mixed waste and, consequently, can provide material remediation to a very high quality. Clean fines, secondary aggregates, biomass, animal bedding, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, amongst other saleable materials, are all being produced from this specially designed, multi-tasking waste recovery plant. The Process: Depending on the material being processed, Lowmac’s new plant starts with a Powerscreen Warrior 1400 screener which ensures the incoming feed material stream is <75mm – the size for which the system has been designed. What the customer thought: Kenny Smith, Managing Director “This plant is proving to be an excellent and versatile addition to our recycling and reclamation capabilities and is performing very well. As always, we have been extremely well served by Blue Machinery Scotland and have the greatest confidence in their excellent after sales product support; also we are all very impressed with the build quality and productivity of the BlueMAC equipment and their very professional and efficient installation team. Another added benefit for us is the modular nature of the BlueMAC plant which will allow us to expand and enlarge it should the need arise.”
The New BlueMAC Recycling Plant at Enterprise Skiphire
The Customer: Based in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Enterprise Skiphire provide a wide range of skips suitable for all types of jobs – big or small. They’re a recognised name within their area and pride themselves on great customer service with a friendly, reliable and competitive service. The Challenge: Enterprise Skiphire were looking to expand their existing recycling system, consisting of a trommel and simple picking isle, in order to focus their efforts on recycling 100% of waste. The Solution: When looking to expand their system, Enterprise Skiphire turned to equipment distributor Blue London and its sister company BlueMAC manufacturing and invested in a tailor-made BlueMAC recycling plant. The plant processes a mix of C&D and municipal waste at around 50 tonne per day; meaning an initial rate of between 5 and 10 tonnes per hour but with considerable growth possible. As well as contributing towards the company’s growth in waste recycling, the plant has also played a huge role in minimizing tip-to-landfill. And with its built in future proof versatility, it is more than capable of handling other waste materials should the need arise. The Process: What the customer thought: Philip Burch, Operations Manager “This is our first purchase with Blue Machinery London and their experience, expertise and excellent customer service throughout the process has been second to none. From the initial design manufacturing stage, right through to the installationof the plant, Blue have provided invaluable communication and have played an active role throughout. In just a matter of, days the plant has enhanced our throughput efficiency and the potential for growth is huge.”
R. Collard Ltd Expands Recycling Capacity with Custom BlueMAC MRF in Hampshire
Leading manufacturing company BlueMAC has designed and built another tailor-made installation; this time for R. Collard Ltd and supplied by Blue Machinery London. The new MRF has been created to Collard’s specific requirements and is incorporated into the new 80m x 30m under-cover building at the company’s recently opened state-of-the-art recycling facility in Eversley, Hampshire – one of four recycling centres operated by Collard. R. Collard Ltd is owned by the well known Touring Car racing driver Rob Collard and has been established for over twenty years. This versatile company is a leading demolition specialist with divisions also providing skip hire, haulage, earthworks and recycled aggregate production. Alongside these interests is a burgeoning involvement in waste management. The new MRF is part of a planned expansion of the company’s recycling activities and is a necessary investment to help cope with the steady rise in waste material volumes available for recycling, which is largely as a result of Collard’s increased demolition work and expanding skip hire activities. As well as contributing to Collard’s growth in waste management, the new MRF will play a major part in ensuring minimum tip-to-landfill from the incoming waste-stream, as well as producing high volumes of clean, saleable recycled materials. The MRF will predominantly process construction and demolition waste but, with future proof versatility built in, will be more than capable of handling other waste materials such as C&I (commercial and industrial) as the need arises. Commenting on his company’s new acquisition, Managing Director Rob Collard said “We’ve been working with Blue Machinery London for many years and found their experience and expertise on this project to be invaluable. From the outset at the concept stage right through to installation, the communication and attention to detail were second to none. From innovative health and safety benefits to understanding our operational needs, the BlueMAC team understood our requirements throughout and I feel the success of the plant is a result of this”. Paul Donnelly, General Manager at Blue Machinery London, responded “The plant went in really well and we are delighted that our long-standing customer is pleased with the result. I’d like to thank our design and installation team for their great work and also Pete Duggan and staff at Collard for their cooperation and support throughout the project.” The BlueMAC MRF begins with a variable speed belt feeder steadily conveying the incoming waste stream into a 2510 trommel, which removes fines at 50mm and which are then transferred on a 50 metres long transfer conveyor to the fines clean up system at the other end of the building; en route the fines pass an overband magnet which removes any ferrous metals. The material is transferred into the fines processing system by a conveyor fitted with a magnetic head roller for smaller ferrous metal extraction which is collected via a chute into a skip. The remaining material passes over a flip-flow screen for processing of fines to -10mm. The 10-50mm is then segregated through a GK air classifier for heavy and lights separation, the light fraction being ideally suited to the production of SRF (solid recovered fuel) After the trommel the 50mm plus material passes an air separator before entering the picking station, which has been purpose-designed in a six-bay, double-sided configuration with 6 additional drop boxes for high value material such as non-ferrous metals or cabling. The station is comprised of an extra wide cabin for operatives’ safety and has been supplied complete with industrial specification on wiring, heating and lighting for a comfortable and safe working environment. The picking station’s 1500mm wide conveyor belt, with variable speed, provides optimum material spread allowing maximum recovery. An overband magnet after the picking station cleans up the remaining material, dropping ferrous metals into the same collection area as that on the fines transfer belt. The last part of the process sees the material conveyed past a secondary air separator to give a final clean to the hard core.
Woodford Recycling Installs Renewable-Powered BlueMAC MRF to Drive 100% Landfill Diversion
Cambridgeshire based waste management specialists Woodford Recycling have recently installed a state of the art MRF from BlueMAC which is fully powered by renewable energy produced onsite Woodford Recycling’s BlueMAC MRF is designed to achieve a throughput of 20 tonnes per hour which provides an additional and future-proof capacity for Woodford Recycling as their anticipated growth continues and they strive for an eventual 100% diversion from landfill. The MRF was designed to be installed in Woodford’s brand new under cover premises in Huntingdon, providing a compact yet efficient materials flow from incoming waste stream to final separated and clean recyclable products. A belt feeder conveys the material to an 8.5m long X 2.5m diameter trommel screen, which features a split drum of 20mm mesh at the front for extracting -20mm fines and a 40mm screen mesh for the 20mm-40mm hardcore. A rightangle turn takes the material on to a blower for “lights” removal and thence on to the bespoke picking station, which is to commercial standard with plugs, lighting and heating all standard with BlueMAC, providing a safe, comfortable and productive working environment for the picking teams. The picking station is a 5-bay, double sided configuration with five drop chutes for “valuables” such as non-ferrous metals. The conveyor then takes the remaining hardcore under an overband magnet for ferrous metals removal, before a secondary final blower gives the material a last clean-up.
Barry’s Skip Hire Invests in BlueMAC Trommel Fines Clean-Up System to Enhance Recycling Efficiency
Barry’s Skip Hire was established in 1974 and are a family run business which is still using tried and tested methods that keep their customers satisfied, respects the environment and ensures the health and safety of all concerned. Barry’s Skip Hire, offer a complete skip hire and waste recycling service to the Merseyside area, offering a first class personal service. In order to continue to offer the very highest service levels, Barry’s have recently invested in a trommel fines clean-up system from BlueMAC to turn the problematic waste material into recyclable products. With the recent legislation changes, Barry’s have once again shown their vision to stay at the fore front of the industry, by investing in a solution for cleaning up the trommel fines. The new setup includes a heavy duty hopper, magnet for ferrous recovery, flip flow screen with 6mm mesh and a blower/drum separator for separating the heavy and light fraction after the flip flow removes the fine materials. Barry’s Skip Hire was established in 1974 and are a family run business which is still using tried and tested methods that keep their customers satisfied, respects the environment and ensures the health and safety of all concerned.
Williams A. Williams Increases Recycling Efficiency with New BlueMAC Dry Recyclables MRF in North Wales
BlueMAC have recently installed a dry recyclables MRF into waste recycling specialists Williams A Williams in North Wales The new recycling plant consists of a dual line setup, enabling Williams A Williams to rpocess upto 8tph of dry recyclables. From the heavy duty feeder, the infeed material is conveyored up to a ballistic separator for the removal of <40mm fines and two way split of 2D and 3D materials. The 2D material is then fed onto a wide conveyor with a picking bay for final clean up. The 3D material is then transferred onto a an automated line where the material pass a magnet and eddie current for valuable metals recovery. The material then travels on high speed conveyors to the Titech NIR system which separates PET from HDPE and rejects all residual materials Commenting on the new plant, owner Meurig Jones said “Overall we are very pleased with the plant, in particular BenMcQuaid of Blue Machinery who worked very closely with us in designing a high quality engineered plant that would fit into our existing building, quite simply ‘it does what it says on the tin’. We also have the added confidence of a full spares and 24/7 service package with Blue Machinery Central”
Murray Browns Invests in Future-Proof BlueMAC MRF to Boost Recycling Efficiency in North Yorkshire
Murray Browns is an independent, family-owned company headquartered in Flixton, near Scarborough, owned and managed by Melvyn and James Brown. Serving the North Yorkshire region, the company has been established for over 41 years providing a range of services, in addition to recycling and waste management, which includes skip hire, quarried and recycled aggregates, agricultural lime and the supply and spreading of fertiliser. Recently Murray Browns asked the team at Blue Central and the engineers at BlueMAC to come up with a solution to their need for a future-proof MRF system. The ever increasing volumes of commercial and C&D waste materials that are being recycled by Murray Browns at their Flixton waste treatment centre necessitated the design, manufacture and installation of a bespoke materials recycling facility (MRF) to replace their old small recycling plant which, although giving sterling service for many years, was now in need of replacement. Melvyn and James report that the plant is performing very well indeed and James Brown commented “We’d been to see some of the first BlueMAC MRFs operating in London and were extremely impressed by the design, build quality and performance.” He continued “What we saw and heard from the owners of the plants convinced us that a BlueMAC system was the best option and, of course, our long relationship with Blue Machinery Central made the choice that much easier. We are also aware of Blue’s industry leading after-sales service and spares back-up and this too was another positive influence on our decision making process.” The BlueMAC MRF at the Murray Browns premises has been designed and tailor-made not only to produce the required specific clean saleable recyclables but also to fit neatly in the 7 acre site and allow materials handling to be carried out safely and efficiently around the new plant. Material flow is continuous throughout the working day, with the incoming C&D and commercial waste being conveyed and processed through a series of compatible, linked machines, including two bespoke picking stations and a fines clean-up line.
Pat Munro Transforms Highland Waste Operations with New BlueMAC Recycling System
Highlands based Pat Munro Ltd have recently installed a recycling system from equipment manufacturers BlueMAC to revolutionise the waste side of their business. The new state of the art MRF facility enables the company to dramatically improve their recovery rates whilst greatly reducing the detrimental haulage factor. Commenting on the strategy of the new MRF, PM Waste Manager, Veronica Symonds, added “In our new MRF facility, we feel that we are able to revolutionise the waste sector in the Highlands. The plant has a future proofed design, enabling us to process greatly increased volumes going forward. Whilst this new facility will give us a real commercial advantage in the local market, we intend to engage with the other waste services providers, in the area, with a view to working together to provide the best, and most cost-effective, waste solutions for the Highland area.” The new plant consists of a 6m feederwith incline belt taking the material to a BlueMAC 25-70 trommel. The robust trommel with maintenance friendly design is 7m long with a 2.5m drum. From the trommel, 40mm minus fine material is removed to reduce the volume of the waste stream and make for easier sorting. The oversize material then travels from the trommelto a 90 degree change of direction at which point the material passes an air separator which removes the light fractions. The remaining oversize material then enters the sorting cabin with its 5 double sided bays for the safe removal of recyclables. For operative’s safety, the cabin is fitted with industrial standard fittings such as lighting, heaters, windows and emergency stop cords. Once all recyclables have been removed the remaining waste passes a magnet for the safe removal of ferrous metals prior to the left over hard core to be stockpiled in the end bay.
Walsh Waste Achieves Zero-to-Landfill Goals with Custom BlueMAC MRF in Galway
Walsh Waste are a Galway-based, family run business operating across the domestic, commercial, industrial and building waste sectors, with their extensive range of waste management services incorporating the collection and safe disposal of both solid and liquid waste. The business has been established for 43 year and there is a clear focus on offering the most professional, affordable and personalised waste collection and recycling service available throughout Galway City and across the County. One of the many reasons the business has grown and prospered since its inception in 1972, is its understanding and determination to constantly improve its efficiencies, maximising the volumes of recycled materials, along with a desire to achieve a zero to landfill scenario. On the back of this, the company applied for and was granted planning to build an MRF to help achieve their goals. Having spoken to a number of businesses including BlueMAC at last year’s RWM Exhibition, they asked BlueMAC to design some potential concepts that would improve the quality of the final aggregate material and increase the amount of recovered ferrous and non-ferrous material. Despite some intense competition, and no prior working relationship, BlueMAC was chosen predominantly due to their creativity in designing a plant that specifically fitted the needs of the business. Commenting on the project, Tom Walsh Managing Director of Walsh Waste stated. “We really felt that the guys at BlueMAC listened to our needs. Knowing the industry as we do, we were clear on what we wanted to achieve but needed expertise on creating a plant that fulfilled our objectives. The team at BlueMAC certainly did that” The Application · Material: General Skip/C&D Waste · Throughput: 20tph · Recoverable: Wood, Plastic, Card, Clean Rubble, Fines, Metals Process: Initially the material is screened to +30mm and -30mm via a 7 metre BlueMac Trommel. From the -30mm fraction an over-band magnet recovers any ferrous metal while the +30mm is processed by a 3 bay sorting station to recover the oversized wood, rigid plastic and paper/card. An over-band magnet recovers the ferrous from the +30mm waste stream before a 30kW Air Knife/Blower removes any remaining lights from the hard-core fraction to leave a high quality, clean rubble.
