BLUE PHOENIX I
Under the umbrella of BPG group, Blue Phoenix operates as a global waste management platform committed to diverting waste from landfills and active across the UK, EU, United States, Australia and the Midde East. Each division within the Group plays a crucial role in advancing BPG’s mission of transforming waste into valuable resources. Interview with Thuy Mai-Moulin, BPG Sustainability Manager.
Blue Phoenix has been operating out of Europe for over 25 years, annually recovering millions of tonnes of aggregates and minerals from bottom ash, the residue from Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facilities. Research into the recovery of ferrous and non-ferrous metals from incinerator bottom ash (IBA) enabled the group to expand its business model under the metal recovery division, QR Metals, to further contribute to the circular economy of waste on a global scale.
“We identified an opportunity to give IBA a new life,” explained BPG Sustainability Manager Thuy Mai-Moulin. “Utilising our technology, we aimed to develop the recycling loop from facilities producing energy from waste.”
Expanding operations over the past few years across Europe and into Australia, has driven the shift from being a processing company with a technological patent, to what is now a diversified waste management platform.
“This past year alone has been full of growth opportunities for the group” explained Ms Thuy.
Blue Phoenix has recently completed the installation of Australia’s first IBA processing facility, which is expected to become operational this year, according to Ms Thuy: “Australia is at a turning point in allowing energy recovery from seemingly non-recyclable waste and Blue Phoenix is working with government departments, agencies, customers, and users to evolve regulation and support the development of a global sustainable aggregate market.”
Most recently, in June, BPG completed the acquisition of 100% stake in the Danish company, RGS Nordic, that recycles construction and demolition waste, in addition to a soil treatment plant which receives, handles and cleans all types of soil.
“We are proud of what we do and what we have accomplished to date,” said Ms Thuy. “It is not just about the ingenuity of our technology and processes, but our impact on the waste management sector and being able to create valuable, circular products.”
Sustainability at BPG
Within BPG, the processing and recovery of resources from IBA has proved substantial contributions to support the development of the circular economy with almost 100% of aggregates and metals being recovered from IBA across 21 processing facilities. These recovered materials replace virgin
resources used in the building and infrastructure sectors.
BPG ensures product application does not lead to overall adverse environmental or human health impacts. This is completed through research of geographical conditions, regional regulations and continuous technological improvements to separate, wash (when necessary) and test products before they are delivered to the market. Technologies are implemented to limit potential producer responsibility risks for the circular products as well as to build up trust and securing long-term market acceptance.
“Our processed metals are used in the manufacturing sector, helping to avoid the extraction of virgin metals,” Ms Thuy explained. “We keep improving the metal
recovery rate and metal quality to meet up our customers’ needs.”
BPG also sorts and processes construction and demolition (C&D) waste through the newly acquired business division, RGS Nordic, operating in Denmark.
“Concrete waste is processed to be reused in the production of new concrete or as a recovery material; we recycle bricks and wood to be used directly in new construction projects,” Ms Thuy continued. “In addition, we also process used stonewool to be incorporated into new insulation materials. We document the quality and traceability of recycled materials, so that customers have insights on the benefits and possibilities of using our secondary products.
“This C&D division also processes contaminated soil and supplies lime-stabilized soil as a replacement for natural gravel and sand in construction projects, minimizing the pressure on virgin materials which are in short supply.”
Strategy and governance
Ms Thuy provided an overview of the sustainability landscape at BPG: “In BPG's sustainability strategies, we focus on various ESG aspects. We strive to improve environmental conditions considering impacts of our own operations, upstream and downstream of the value chain. We also aim to ensure that fundamental rights are
implemented not only for our workforce but also for the workers along the value chains.
“Creating a healthy and safe working environment has always been our daily mission. In the coming period, we will work more closely with our stakeholders to align social performance and share efforts to create and maintain a healthy and pleasant work environment for all.
Additionally, we ensure that business conduct is implemented in our own operations and with our business partners.
“For our strategies to be effectively implemented, we have established a governance structure with a quarterly reporting of our sustainability performance. The sustainability team ensures that BPG makes effective progress on the sustainability programmes as well as the impacts, risks and opportunities of environmental, social and governance is well managed.”
The journey ahead
BPG aims to deliver products to the market with sustainability certification and avoided emissions to accelerate the circular economy sustainably. Various life cycle impact assessment (LCA) projects are being implemented to give insights on the environmental performance of BPG products and supports the creation of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).
Compared to virgin materials, BPG products are more climate positive, helping to avoid substantial volume of GHG emissions as well as shorten the value chains to regional level. The business is currently redefining the product portfolio to communicate certified sustainability benefits.
Blue Phoenix has a mission to deliver a sustainable circular economy
“Our vision to build up a sustainable future started over 25 years ago and we have expanded significantly in the last ten years,” Ms Thuy said in conclusion. “We see more opportunities to grow globally. We believe that the world economy needs to be circular for all of us to thrive sustainably and implementing a business model where there is no waste and all resources are valorised is possible.” n
You can find more about Blue Phoenix and BPG’s sustainability efforts at: www.bluephoenix-group.com/sustainability
