15.2%
The unique post shredder technology enables the car recycling chain to achieve an unprecedentedly high recycling percentage of 98.4%. Experts from ARN are constantly refining the techniques and processes at the PST plant in Tiel to further seperate the fractions and make these suitable for new applications. As the final link in ARN’s recycling chain. ‘Tiel’ contributes 15.2 per cent to the total materials that can be recovered.
Almost 200 different machines work in the plant on separating all sorts of plastics and other fractions. “It is very time consuming to find the right configurations for all the machines so that the entire production process runs smoothly”, says Hans van de Greef, Director of ARN Recycling. “This is complicated by the fact that eleven material flows delivered to us by shredder companies all have a different composition. We figure out these flows, in a manner of speaking, using the latest technologies.”
Cleaner end products
The installations for recovering metals and for removing wood and rubber from plastic fractions, in particular, considerably improve the separation of materials. The ultimate aim is to produce cleaner end products with a higher quality, which can serve as raw materials for new products. For instance, reclaimed copper is sent directly to copper smelting companies. The plastic fractions are also used as a raw material for the car industry.
Furthermore, optimisations have been made that have a favourable impact on the environment. Van de Greef: “More stable production enables us to process a higher volume of shredder waste each year. It leads to more useful end products and at the same time means that less shredder waste is incinerated or discarded.”
Sustainable Development Goals
For the second year, ARN has submitted itself to the yardstick of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the motto ‘lean and green’ in mind. The colored SDGs shown opposite apply specifically to the content of this page.
Car glass is attractive for the glass industry
A good example of this is car glass, which can be an attractive raw material for the glass industry. It involves a higher level of reuse than the common method of using glass as a raw material in road construction. However, determining how the glass can be best used by the glass industry is not a straightforward matter, according to Van de Greef.
“As with everything, the reuse of glass also involves doing arithmetic. What is the input, the output and the yield? In the case of glass, there are two options. Each have their pros and cons, costs and yields. Is it better to have dismantling companies remove the glass from the cars (which means it does not end up in the residual waste flow) and then take it to a glass recycling company? Or is it faster, more efficient, more effective and cheaper to automate the separation or filtration of the glass at the PST plant. The second option naturally requires an investment in technology, which we have already seen in operation abroad. It can take months or even more than a year to find a good answer to these questions. We will choose the highest quality and most efficient solution, after considering the costs and yields.”
Alternative forms of maintenance – substantial savings
Staff at the PST plant have since been working constantly on improving processes and saving costs. For instance, the plant has moved to more short maintenance stops, which are well scheduled in advance. This enables the production capacity to be better utilised for actually processing the shredder waste. Although various heavy machines have been added to the production line, the plant has managed to keep its energy consumption stable.
Reuse of raw materials
An important aim is and remains finding new sales channels for the end fractions. A well-known example that has since proven successful is the development of sheet piling and dam walls made from plastic from recycled cars. Similarly, the development of sound barriers for use along railways lines holds promise in the future.
For some time, the plant in Tiel has been considering the possibility of making railway sleepers from recovered raw materials from the PST plant. Hans van de Greef emphasised the difficulties involved in this process. “There are issues such as whether we can supply the plastic fractions that suit the production process for railway sleepers. One particular requirement of railway sleepers is that they must be rigid and dimensionally stable. It will take a lot more experimentation and calculations before railway sleepers from car recycling become a reality.”