How is the cost of commodities affecting the reuse and recycling of metal and what are the opportunities to recycle more metals? Ian Hetherington Director General British Metal Recycling Association
Opportunities to Improve Value in the Supply Chain Ian Hetherington Director General British Metal Recycling Association
UK Metals Recycling - many suppliers, fewer customers Media Separation Shredding Shearing / Baling Smelters Foundries Exports Collecting / Sorting
UK METALS RECYCLING - major contribution to European end of life targets Packaging : 2.5 billion cans every year End of Life Vehicles : 75% car is metal - 2 million cars, more than any other European country - 85% of a car is recycled into secondary raw material WEEE : 8m fridges, washing m/cs, electronics Batteries : 98% lead acid batteries recycled
UK METALS RECYCLING - An established trading industry 5.6 billion annual turnover* 13 million tonnes of metal recycled* > 70% exported Traded on the London Metal Exchange Internationally recognised specifications
Two Waste Stream Examples End of Life Vehicles & WEEE
An ELV Recycling Perspective A maturing recycling and recovery sector Seeking to extract the last 10% from a critical waste stream Hurdles to development 1. Lack of UK Government commitment to innovation & leadership 2. Uneven enforcement Opportunities new materials, energy recovery
A WEEE Recycling Perspective A single industry divided by only differences in process and scale New developments in improved value recovery Hurdles to development 1. Collection 2. illegal exports 3. Design Opportunities new partnerships, new markets
Improving Value Recovery Not just the processes used! More important to look at the material outputs of those processes The resource education of OEMs
Process Developments Recent examples: Post shredder processing of residues Polymers Recovery and Refining > 40m Investments Mid section alloys refinished & recovered Flash memory removal, re-balling & data cleansing LCD & Digitizer reworks Energy recovery from ASR Sustainable resource management for insurance and warranty providers
Material Outputs A number of flagship sites at forefront of materials separation Investment only possible due to volumes processed Able to separate complex & contaminated material streams into specific plastic groups or individual polymers Precious & Non-Ferrous metals refinement from complex and contaminated material streams Technology in both cases targeted around identification and exploitation of specific material properties
Challenges to improvement Whilst there may be a wish to improve, two of the biggest factors affecting the quality of treatment Consistency of Standards and Regulations Enforcement The highest environmental and sustainability performance of a nation is governed by the lowest standard of regulation and enforcement that a nation s government is willing to accept Good regulation and robust enforcement is the only solution for...
Opportunities to improve value in the supply chain Ian Hetherington Director General British Metal Recycling Association
ASR to Energy Analysis of shredder production Target material for energy recovery (non-recyclable, combustible component of ASR) 16% Target Material for Energy Recovery: - Difficult to recycle for primary uses - Mix --> Mix of many different polymers - Size --> Difficult to identify and sort material - Physical combination --> e.g. plastic coated wire - Physical entanglement --> e.g. wire entangled in fabric - No primary re-use --> Upholstery and foams, rubbers Recycled Aggregates 8% Recycled Plastics 3% Recycled Non-ferrous Metals 3% Recycled steel 70%
ASR to Energy The traditional recycling supply chain End of Life Consumables (3.8Mt) Shredding Operations Recycled Steel (2.66Mt) Shredding is the industry standard and best available technology for recycling mixed metal-rich waste streams. Light-fraction (ASR) Heavy-fraction (shredded) Typically this is end of life consumer products: End of life vehicles End of life white goods Civic amenity mixed metal waste Landfill (1.04Mt) Post Shredder Separation Plant Recycled Non-ferrous Metals (95Kt) ASR (Automotive Shredder Residue) is the nonmetallic element of the feed material removed by the shredding process. It is referred to as automotive as end of life vehicles make up the vast majority of the available feed and they contribute the bulk of the non metallics; vehicle interiors, glass, plastic/rubber drive-train components. Waste
ASR to Energy ASR to Energy completes the supply chain transformation End of Life Consumables (3.8Mt) Shredding Operations ASR & Non-Ferrous Processing Recycled Steel (2.66Mt) Recycled Non-ferrous Metals (95Kt) Recycled Aggregates (305Kt) Sale of Electricity Electricity generation (net of internal consumption) Non-recyclable materials (combined*) (627Kt) Energy Recovery Process * Plastic Recycling (Possible) Additional Recycled Materials Recycled Plastics (115Kt) Landfill of non-recyclable residues