Inprotec installed the Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) system at the plant, which captures the dusts emitted into the factory air during the sorting and crushing of the batteries.
It was installed as part of a project to ensure the site meets stringent operational requirements, the company said.
Under its BatteryBack compliance scheme, WasteCare collects batteries from 30,000 collection points across the UK, transporting them to its Halifax facility where they are sorted for recycling at the site.
Plant
The plant was started in 2017 and a pilot scheme was running throughout 2018, before it became operational the following year (see letsrecycle.com story).
The process sees the batteries fed into a crusher, with the crushed material separated into ferrous (iron), paper and plastic, and metal rich ‘black mass’ fractions using separation technologies.
Graeme Parkin, operations director of the WasteCare Group said: “There’s nothing more important to us than the health and safety of our employees and the state-of-the-art system Inprotec has installed at our Halifax facility will help to ensure we maintain a safe and clean environment for our team to work in, while at the same time delivering significant environmental benefits.”
Circular
Inprotec is a family-run engineering business which specialises in the design and supply of pyrometallurgical process plant used to recover lead and precious metals, operating all over the world. The company’s managing director Chris Oldroyd said: “Inprotec and WasteCare share a commitment to helping to create a truly circular economy through our work, so we were delighted to have been able to support them with this important project.
“Dust from the seven million batteries the plant recycles every year is inevitable, but the system we’ve installed will ensure that it is effectively captured and safely extracted, improving the working environment and enabling WasteCare to continue to operate safely and efficiently.”
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