Steaming ahead with waste savings

By Michael Kavanagh
Published: June 15 2009 03:00

The use of steam, or "autoclaving", in the waste sector has previously been relatively small-scale and limited to sterilising medical waste, writes Michael Kavanagh .
Sterecycle's clean waste treatment process "steam sterilises" the unsorted waste at low temperatures in rotating 40ft sealed vessels called autoclaves, using a combination of steam and pressure, treating 25 tonnes of waste in each batch.
The waste is then sorted using a series of recycling processes such as size screening, magnetic separation and infra-red.
The process is able to sterilise and recycle the steam-cleaned metals and plastics, as well as convert the waste food and paper into a high-quality organic fibre that can be burnt or used as a soil enhancer for land remediation.
The planned expansion comes as local authorities are under pressure to reduce landfill use or face the threat of heavy financial penalties.
Currently, more than half of domestic rubbish is dumped in landfill sites.
The recent UK budget means that landfill tax will increase to £72 a tonne by 2013.
The company suggests it can divert 70 per cent of waste away from landfill at a cheaper cost to incineration.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009