The deal will see Credential supplying up to 30,000 tonnes of tyre chip a year to the plant – equivalent to a quarter of the tyres handled by Credential and roughly a third of the fuel used by the kiln. There is also the option for a five year extension.
Hasan Bobat, fuels development manager at Tarmac Buxton Lime and Cement, said: “It is good news for the local environment and also for wider society as fossil fuel consumption has been reduced while a beneficial use has also been found for waste which was previously disposed of in landfills.”
Trials
The contract agreement follows almost nine months of trials at the Buxton kiln which Credential says met all of the “critical success factors” set by the Environment Agency. They have also reduced the volume of fossil fuels used by the plant and emissions of nitrogen oxides by 15%.
During the trials, 50mm fuel chips were sent from Credential's tyre chipping facility in Breighton, East Yorkshire, which sources tyres from garages and businesses. Chips were then delivered to storage facilities in Tunstead before being fed at a controlled rate, into the kiln calciner, using a covered conveyor to replace a proportion of the coal previously used.
The project was closely monitored by the Environment Agency as part of the process of considering Tarmac Buxton Lime and Cement's application for permission to use tyre chips as a fuel. A 79-page trial report is currently being considered by the Environment Agency, which is expected to approve the application.
Credential Environmental director, Steve Patterson, said: “This promises to be an exciting breakthrough for the recycling of used tyres and we are delighted to be collaborating with Tarmac on the trials.”
Mr Patterson explained that using tyre chips as a fuel benefited both kiln operators and tyre recyclers and that Credential would be interested in further contracts.
He said: “For us it gives us a sustainable and consistent output for tyres as it is not seasonal and you get some energy recovery as opposed to sending them to landfill. For Buxton it replaces fossil fuel by about 30% so it is more cost effective and saves carbon issues.”
Mr Patterson added that, while Buxton was the only cement kiln Credential supplied at the present, it was interested in other contracts.
He said: “That is the only cement kiln we supply at the moment but we supply granulation plants that make rubber crumb and aggregate replacements for landfill sites. We would love to look at other cement kilns following the success.”
Subscribe for free