Supacycle enables separation of paper, metal, plastic and glass waste in household bins

(10/02/2009)

Unlike existing refuse collection, Supacycle enables separation of paper, metal, plastic and glass waste from household to bin and throughout the collection process, avoiding the need to send waste to a factory to be manually sorted.

By maintaining the separation of different types of waste, Supacycle also prevents the mixing of recyclable products that currently leads to the extraction of low quality raw materials that cannot be manufactured back into their original form. This 'closed-loop' system saves money and energy while reducing the reliance on already scarce raw materials.

The project gained high praise by Eric Randall director of leading recycling firm Bryson Recycling, who said “The Supacycle approach is very innovative - it shows fresh thinking along with a good and detailed understanding of this business. I think they may have something of a breakthrough in their design. Timing is good as more and more councils become concerned about the quality of materials and the cost effectiveness of co-mingled MRF operations. I wish them well with their plans and look forward with interest to see trial operations.”

Giles Sergant, director of Supacycle, commented “The way we collect household recycling in this country significantly undermines the value of the collected items and their potential to be properly recycled. Closed loop recycling typically requires high quality recyclate feedstocks and the increasing migration from kerbside to co-mingled MRF collections is reducing our ability to closed loop re-manufacture targeted materials in the UK."

"Through Supacycle, for the first time, we have an economic way of safely dealing with high volume collections which maintain high quality outputs and can stimulate closed loop recycling within the UK and reduce the reliance on unsustainable overseas markets. I’m very pleased that we have been recognised at these awards and hope this achievement will help us push this technology to market sooner.”

The project has benefited from support offered by Renew, an initiative that assists in delivering commercial energy and environmental technology projects across North East England, who provided advice and funding support for Supacycle to obtain international patents.

John Barton, project director at Renew, commented “It is highly encouraging to see this exciting concept receive national recognition. Our role is to support development of market ready products and their deployment to industry as well as encouraging adoption and implementation of new technologies such as Supacycle from SME’s through to heavy industry.”

Renew are a strategic component of the Centre for Process Innovation’s (CPI) Low Carbon Energy business.

Related categories:  Environmental technologies for Residential and Green homes   Glass recycling   Metal recycling   Paper and cardboard recycling   Plastic recycling