A PhD thesis completed by an employee of Stadler Engineering, a high-tech supplier of complete sorting and treatment plants for the waste management industry, could benefit not only Stadler, but the UK waste industry as a whole.
The thesis, by Dr Benjamin Eule, Global Technical Manager at Stadler, is looking at solutions to industry wide issues. Glass collected in comingled recyclates is increasing in popularity and ensuring its recovery as a valuable product whilst reducing the potential to contaminate other recyclates and mitigate plant damage are all considered.
Information gathered through field work and the analysis of case studies undertaken in the UK, provides the basis for the development of an optimised processing approach for comingled recyclate with glass.
Stadler wants to enable clients to get the most value out of the processing of comingled recyclate and the knowledge and expertise gained from this research will go a long way to achieving this.
Trevor Smart, UK Sales Manager for Stadler UK Ltd, endorsed Ben's work. "Stadler's involvement with the development and refurbishment of MRFs means that we are always looking for better ways of processing the recyclate whilst protecting the equipment and infrastructure. The work Ben did for his thesis is something we can incorporate when delivering waste management solutions to our clients."
Ben, who is based at Stadler in Ashford, Kent, said: "I hope that my work will go some way to develop and improve the recycling and recovery performances of UK MRFs and also alleviate the damage that glass can do to a recycling plant and to enabling processors to produce higher quality glass for recycling."