Shanks confirms market for MBT residue

The new contract, signed last week, will guarantee a market for the fuel for up to 10 years.

It marks Shanks' first successful negotiation over SRF, the residue material from the recovery of mixed household waste by mechanical biological treatment (MBT) plants.

A spokesman for Castle Cement said the company hoped to take 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes of SRF from Shanks under the deal.

A second contract, still under discussion with Castle Cement, could see the deal extended to a cement kiln in Lincolnshire.

Shanks, which runs the biggest MBT plant in London at Frog Island in Rainham, expects to produce 200,000 tonnes of SRF a year from residual waste by 2007. The facility was visited earlier this week by minister Ben Bradshaw (see letsrecycle.com story).

ELWA
The Frog Island plant deals with waste from four London boroughs under the East London Waste Authority, including Newham, Redbridge, Havering and Barking and Dagenham.

Managing director of Shanks, Ian Goodfellow, said: “We take great comfort in the fact that Castle Cement has a great deal of experience in working with a range of alternative fuels such as SRF and are now specifically designing plants to optimise their use, to reduce to a minimum, the use of fossil-derived fuels.”

“We are very encouraged by the amount of interest being expressed in using SRF not only by the cement industry but across a range of other industries that face big challenges in managing their energy requirements for the future,” he added.

Criticism
Mr Goodfellow's only criticism was towards the government, which he said could do more to establish more widespread support for SRF, to put it on a par with other kinds of renewable energy.

SRF is produced from residual household waste that is treated to remove both recyclable and biodegradable elements before it is turned into fuel pellets, branded by Castle as “Profuel”. They are environmentally friendly because they divert waste from landfill and can take the place of damaging fossil fuels in incinerators.

Castle cement said the SRF could be used to replace up to 50% of the fossil fuels used in its kiln.

Castle Cement's Managing Director, Peter Weller, said: “The contract is a win-win situation for both companies, helping Castle to increase the amount of non-fossil fuel used in its processes and establishing a viable outlet for the fuel from Shanks' MBT facilities, thereby avoiding the possibility of the loss of a potent source of energy by disposing of the fuel to landfill.

“The use of Profuel within our installations is now well established and we are excited over the use of this particular material which we anticipate will become a secure and sustainable source in the long term.”