Rino Recycling’s fully automated construction and demolition waste plant is dramatically improving waste recovery rates in the Brisbane metropolitan area.
The hybrid plant, which integrates both wet and dry processes, helps capture high-value construction materials that would have otherwise gone to landfill.
Washing specialists CDE designed and engineered a wet processing solution that integrates with the Turmec-supplied dry processing system.
The interconnected system can accept a wide range of highly variable waste streams, including commercial skip and bin waste, C&D waste, hydro excavation waste, concrete, and excavated fills.
Linked by a network of conveyors, waste materials transition between the wet and dry systems without manual input. First, feed material is processed via Turmec’s dry mixed recyclables plant to separate fines and removes contaminants before passing through CDE’s wet processing plant to produce a range of washed and graded recycled sand and aggregate products.
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CDE Australasia general manager Daniel Webber said it’s the first time two systems of this kind have been brought together in this way, under one roof.
“This really is uncharted territory,” Webber said.
“It’s living proof that wet and dry waste recycling can coincide, and it highlights the power of collaboration because the results are undeniable.”
The facility has a maximum processing capacity of 475 tonnes of C&D waste per hour – equivalent to 1.5 million tonnes per year.
Rino Recycling general manager Daniel Blaser expects it to reach full capacity in the next 12 to 18 months.
“We’re currently operating at around 50% of our total capacity, but this is steadily increasing to the point we anticipate reaching full capacity by the end of 2025,” Blaser said.
“A major component of the work we’re doing is about educating the industry about the potential of recycled construction materials. We’re making a very strong case in favour of recycled sand and aggregate.
“More and more are adapting and as that increases so too will our capacity to meet that growing demand. We see a greener, cleaner future just over the horizon and are steadfast in our commitment to see it realised.”
C&D waste accounts for 38 per cent of all waste generated in Australia and in the year 2020-21 the sector produced 29 million tonnes of waste, according to figures from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Webber said the location of the plant is also supporting the construction industry.
“Historically in this region trucks had to travel considerably long distances to access resource recovery facilities,” Webber said.
“It essentially made waste recycling a cost-prohibitive exercise. This solution and its proximity to Brisbane’s central business district – the beating heart of many major infrastructure projects – will help reduce the sector’s carbon footprint by tackling the waste burden, repurposing materials, and limiting the need to extract new raw materials.”