Austrian recycling machinery manufacturer Komptech has set its sights on boosting its presence in the emerging UK market for organics recycling.
The company, which is based at Frohnleiten in the south of the country, already has a minor presence in the UK, with a base at Kineton near Warwick.
And, speaking to letsrecycle.com earlier this month, Komptech identified the potential to further increase its foothold in the machinery market and even suggested doubling its efforts.
Dr Martin Wellacher of Komptech said: The market is very emerging in the UK, so over the last four years there has been a lot of machines installed there and there are more and more large-scale developments, such as 100,000 tonne-a-year capacity mechanical biological treatment plants.
We currently sell 20 to 25 machines-a-year into the UK, and we are mainly involved in plant installations and the machinery side of things. Of course, we would want to be selling 50 machines-a-year in the UK.
Mainly focussed on composting and shredding technology, Dr Wellacher said it has developed a range of 30 machines to offer processing support across a range of steps in the waste treatment, composting and biomass sectors.
RDF
Furthermore, Dr Wellacher added that, in addition to growth in the organics recycling market, Komptech was also keen to develop its offering in the arena of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) across all of its European locations.
We obviously recognise the heat [generation] market and the process for heat generation, he said. And, at the moment, other materials such as saw dust, are in too small fractions for the market to be able to fulfil all the demands of the sector.
He said that the RDF market is currently dominated by a handful of players. However, he said, in Austria and across Europe, RDF and waste wood would become increasingly more prominent as a substitute for virgin/fossil fuels.
Dr Wellacher said: We dont know really where the market is going but there are clear signs that more and more wood is going to be used for energy generation.
The company operates at eight locations across six European countries, with competence centres in Germany and a manufacturing complex in Slovenia. This is in addition to a number of regional sales offices.
