CDE is encouraging materials producers to ‘reappraise’ their waste streams to get more value from their operations.
The call comes as the rate of global resource extraction continues to accelerate, finite natural materials continue to deplete, and barriers to gain approval for new mineral extraction sites mount.
CDE said sand and aggregates are amongst the most important resources for everyday life, required as they are for the construction of roads and pathways, buildings we live and work in, and the microchips powering our technology.
In 2018, mineral wastes and soils accounted for 63% of total waste generation in the UK, meanwhile the latest Global Resources Outlook report, published by the UN Environment Programme, suggests resource extraction could rise by 60% to 160 billion tonnes over the next three decades.
CDE added that mining and quarrying operations generate significant volumes of waste by-product as part of their process but within these waste streams there is opportunity to repurpose the overburden, scalpings, and crushed rock fines that come as part of the process.
The traditional approach to managing these by-products is to stockpile them on site, which the manufacturer said is generally symptomatic of the ‘limitations’ of the technology employed on site at the time.
CDE’s patented washing and processing allows quarry operators to transform unwanted waste materials that may have been sent to landfill into high-value sand and aggregate products that can be sold straight off the belt.
Longcliffe Quarries, based in Derbyshire, had historically discarded its clay-bound limestone scalpings, but feasibility studies and material testing found a market for products recovered from this waste stream. Powered by a 220 tonnes per hour (tph) CDE wet processing plant, up to six different products are being extracted from clay-contaminated material, which is creating new ‘high-value’ revenue streams and helping reduce net emissions on site.
CDE explained conventional dry processing equipment has its ‘drawbacks’ with quarry waste by-products, which typically have high clay and fines content, but advances in washing technology is shown to overcome these challenges to produce high-quality sand and aggregates and maximise product yield from quarry waste.
Recently, CDE designed and engineered a solution to support Peter Fitzpatrick Ltd, a quarrying and contracting company in Northern Ireland, to reprocess excess crushed rock fines and blinding material at its quarry in Newry. Processing up to 130tph of quarry waste overburden per hour, the CDE wash plant is enabling the firm to produce five saleable outputs including concrete sand, 6mm grit, 10mm, 20mm, and +20mm aggregates.
William Melanophy, CDE’s head of business development for the UK and Ireland, said, “Too often these masses are categorised as ‘waste’ or low value material when in reality they possess significant potential to quarry operators. When processed with the right technology, most of these seemingly low-quality by-products can be marketed quite profitably. It is crucial we start to maximise the available reserves and tackle more complex material. CDE is committed to providing solutions which address the industry’s waste burden in a bid to meet the everyday needs of our customers.”
