Technological watch
Recyk, Meplas to open medical waste recycling plant in UK
Joint-venture partners Recyk and Meplas have released plans covering the opening of a new category 3 post-consumer medical waste recycling plant in the UK.
Located in East Yorkshire, the four-acre site will process such waste as auto disable (AD) and blood plastics into a ‘clean secondary material’ for remanufacturing.
The plant is reported to be in its final stages of commissioning, with the goal of being ‘zero waste’ from Day 1.
The opening follows 12 months of behind-the-scenes work. Featuring an integrated wash plant, the facility will receive, shred, treat, extrude and pelletise a range of ‘difficult wastes’.
These include LDPE films and other plastic packaging from food processing factories. The plant can accept plastics which are contaminated with animal by-products (ABP).
The new recycling facility is a Category 3 waste reprocessing site. This is the lowest of the three standard categories, as outlined by the UK government and covers contact with non-infectious ABP.
Category 1 and 2 wastes generally involve materials, etc. which have been in contact with infectious diseases. These demand that specific documentation, handling and disposal procedures be in place.
Meplas has been working in the Chinese plastics manufacturing industry for more than 10 years. The company has been exploring ways to extend its business since the Chinese government planned to and ultimately banned the import of most plastic waste in early 2019.
Commenting on the new facility, Recyk managing director Rob Andrews said: “It’s our mission to take tougher waste streams and turn them into something really exciting. We can process 200 mattresses per hour for future fuels, for example, manufacture one-pass biomass with minimal fines, or handle AD plastics for either remanufacturing or alternative fuel production.”
Key to the reprocessing site is an Untha XR3000 mobil-e waste shredder. This fully-mobile (by remote control) equipment features an electo-mechanical shredding system using the Untha Eco Drive system.
The shredding equipment can reduce waste to any particle size between 30 and 400mm. Further features include a magnetic separator and a height-adjustable discharge conveyor.
Located in East Yorkshire, the four-acre site will process such waste as auto disable (AD) and blood plastics into a ‘clean secondary material’ for remanufacturing.
The plant is reported to be in its final stages of commissioning, with the goal of being ‘zero waste’ from Day 1.
The opening follows 12 months of behind-the-scenes work. Featuring an integrated wash plant, the facility will receive, shred, treat, extrude and pelletise a range of ‘difficult wastes’.
These include LDPE films and other plastic packaging from food processing factories. The plant can accept plastics which are contaminated with animal by-products (ABP).
The new recycling facility is a Category 3 waste reprocessing site. This is the lowest of the three standard categories, as outlined by the UK government and covers contact with non-infectious ABP.
Category 1 and 2 wastes generally involve materials, etc. which have been in contact with infectious diseases. These demand that specific documentation, handling and disposal procedures be in place.
Meplas has been working in the Chinese plastics manufacturing industry for more than 10 years. The company has been exploring ways to extend its business since the Chinese government planned to and ultimately banned the import of most plastic waste in early 2019.
Commenting on the new facility, Recyk managing director Rob Andrews said: “It’s our mission to take tougher waste streams and turn them into something really exciting. We can process 200 mattresses per hour for future fuels, for example, manufacture one-pass biomass with minimal fines, or handle AD plastics for either remanufacturing or alternative fuel production.”
Key to the reprocessing site is an Untha XR3000 mobil-e waste shredder. This fully-mobile (by remote control) equipment features an electo-mechanical shredding system using the Untha Eco Drive system.
The shredding equipment can reduce waste to any particle size between 30 and 400mm. Further features include a magnetic separator and a height-adjustable discharge conveyor.
This project has received funding from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 837761.
