Castle commissions depackaging facility

“The bespoke equipment,” said Castle’s chairman, Roger Hewitt, “is the latest stage in a major investment programme at our three waste treatment sites in Ilkeston, Stoke-on-Trent and Cardiff.”

Mr Hewitt explained that Castle “has a long track record of providing secure disposal services for unwanted products”.

Range

The new equipment provides additional capacity for a wide range of materials such as toiletries, beverages, cosmetics, cleaning products, tobacco products, e-cigarettes, paints, plasterboard etc. Seen as state-of-the-art, the company explained that the technology, with adjustable configurations, means that Castle is able to accommodate a wide variety of solid, liquid and sludge products, both hazardous and non-hazardous, packaged in sizes as small as 3ml containers.

Just-in-time deliveries are also a feature provided by the site, allowing for the destruction to be witnessed with continuous CCTV recording and certificates of destruction given.

Recycling

The company noted that: “With recycling and landfill avoidance continuing to be important global issues, Castle is pioneering a de-packaging solution which will see materials moved away from conventional disposal routes and recycled.”

It added that “aspecialist Atritor Turbo Separator will separate packaging materials from products with the aid of integrated water nozzles. The introduction of water will also enhance the quality of the recovered packaging prior to recycling. In keeping with our focus on sustainability, Castle will be limiting the amount of mains water used in the packaging washing process by using both recycled water from their treatment plant and various suitable non-hazardous liquid wastes.”

35 years

Castle Environmental, which was established more than 35 years ago, said that it handles in excess of 250,000 tonnes per year of wastes and added that it is committed to reducing dependence on landfill for disposal. “As one example, we have achieved the relevant ‘end of waste’ criteria for the incorporation of washed air pollution control residues in our manufacture of precast concrete blocks.”