Scanmetals, based in the UK, specializes in recovering incinerator bottom ash (IBA) generated by Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facilities.
After residual waste has been recovered to generate electricity and heat, the Scanmetals process sorts the ash using mechanical and sensor-based technology to remove dust and aggregate. Any valuable metals that remain are removed and sold to smelters, refineries, ingot makers and foundries.
According to the company, the Scanmetals process is dry and uses eddy-current, induction and X-ray sorting technology. This avoids the use of large volumes of water and chemicals and minimizes oxidisation of the metals recovered.
“With more than 11 million tonnes of residual household and municipal waste treated in EfW facilities in the UK alone every year, we believe that capturing metals released during energy recovery is an important circular process,” said Andrew King, MD of Scanmetals. “By sorting the IBA, we capture more than 39,000 tonnes of ferrous metal per annum, including 26,000 tonnes of aluminium – 85% of which originates from aluminium packaging.”
