RISE OF THE PHOENIX

BLUE PHOENIX IS MAINTAINING ITS PROMISE TO DEVELOP NEW RE-USE MARKETS, OFF THE BACK OF AUSTRALIA’S FIRST DEDICATED INCINERATOR BOTTOM ASH TREATMENT FACILITY.

Increasing municipal waste levels, combined with a growing population in Australia, have contributed to the continued innovation of waste treatment technologies.

As conventional waste treatment methods are slowly being passed over for more sustainable processes, including Waste to Energy (WtE), companies such as Blue Phoenix Group are implementing proven European technology into the Australian market.

Blue Phoenix does not see landfill as the one and only solution to residue ash. Rather, it focuses on ensuring that these commodities can be re-used instead of being sent to landfill.

With its Incinerator Bottom Ash (IBA) facility in Kwinana, Western Australia, Blue Phoenix Group is aiming to contribute to landfill diversion and the prioritisation of sustainable recycling processes.

Ian Lynass, Managing Director Australia, and Asia, says that embracing WtE and proven IBA treatment technology is a responsible and sustainable circular economic strategy that delivers valuable recycled products into a developed market.

“We are working on many fronts across Australia and in Asia as we continue to work with customers and regulators to develop a sound knowledge base of responsible treatment and sustainable re-use of aggregates and metals.”

IBA installations help to process the ash that is discharged from municipal waste incinerators. Following combustion, the remaining material can contain minerals and ferrous and non-ferrous metals.

Minerals can be refined into an aggregate, which is appropriate for use in construction materials, such as road construction and concrete. Ferrous and non-ferrous metals can be refined for reuse in automobile manufacturing or electronic device creation.

Ian says the refined material can contribute value to existing markets in Australia, as well as overseas, supporting a truly circular economic outcome for the community.

“Diverting materials away from landfill is great, but we then also need to look at how we recover the materials and then repatriate them back into value adding commercial markets,” he says. “The first element of this process is understanding the materials, so we can process both ferrous and nonferrous metals in different sizes and fractions and commodities. We then take that material and through our other locations across the globe we clean it, enrich it, upgrade it and sell it into refineries who require that material to include in products such as motor vehicles and electronic goods.”

Ian says the domestic reuse and refining of such materials will be key to the future of WtE and IBA treatment in Australia over the medium term.

Blue Phoenix’s IBA processing facility will be operated as part of a 25-year agreement with Avertas Energy.

“We are looking to treat those materials here rather than overseas, but currently there is no processing capability to do this in Australia,” Ian says.

“No longer is it suitable for the material to go to landfill when it can be recovered in a safe and economic manner.”

Ian says that the emergence of such markets will also offer an alternative to the mining of virgin materials.

“As we mature and improve our recycling, recovery, and reuse of materials through regulation that allows sustained reuse, we will create a demand for products such as metals and aggregates and energy, which will become the driver, rather than the diversion of waste from landfill,” he says.

“Energy from waste is not the only solution for the waste supply chain, but it is an integral strategic technology that benefits the community by creating a circular economic outcome for what has traditionally created emissions, methane and other issues that create a land debt for future generations.”

As multiple industries, trend toward the use of recycled materials for major projects, Ian believes it will only be a matter of time before the market matures organically.

“The need for recycled material is becoming a heightened topic of requirement for all federal, state and local council governments,” Ian says.

“Most tenders now require that a percentage of materials going into infrastructure or road projects should contain a recycled product.

“It is that maturing of the supply chain which will create a sustainable long-term market. All material applied to a civil project is assessed before reuse and that is a large part of what Blue Phoenix does – ensuring that from a regulatory perspective the material is used in an appropriate manner that does not cause harm to the environment,” Ian says.

Blue Phoenix is also introducing new technology to its IBA processing plant, which will be operated as part of a 25-year agreement with Avertas Energy.

“We are the only company in the world that focuses exclusively on IBA and the circular economic benefits that go toward a more sustainable future,” Ian says.

“The ballistic separation process and the patented technology that Blue Phoenix is bringing into Australia is the first of its kind to be introduced here. We created this technology with the Delph University of Technology in the Netherlands.”

Ian says Blue Phoenix will next year identify key personnel who will spend several months in Europe taking part in a specialised skills program to develop their understanding of the project, specifically new technology in the market.

Civil and infrastructure works on the plant are set to be completed this year, with the mechanical assembly of major components to be completed in the first quarter of 2022. From June 2022, the plant will start accepting IBA and in full operation soon after.

The facility will start processing IBA from mid-2022.

“Diverting materials away from landfill is great, but we then also need to look at how we recover the materials and then repatriate them back into value-adding commercial markets.”

Ian Lynass, Blue Phoenix Managing Director Australia and Asia

For more information, visit: www.bluephoenix-group.com