Project reference
Utilisation concept for decommissioned sorting plant opens up future market
Location: Vechta, Lower Saxony
Client: A. Siemer – Entsorgungs GmbH
Period: Nine months
Expertise & services
- New technical utilisation concept for decommissioned sorting plant
- Planning and realisation of the reconstruction of the existing plant
- Recycling solution for sorting fraction
- Harmonisation of the material properties with the petrochemical industry
- Procurement of strategic feedstock partners (input and output)
- Holistic company integration into the circular economy
- Interacting: consulting, engineering, sourcing
- Project management, progress control, quality assessment/assurance, training
Goals & benefits
- Entry into a new market
- Deeper integration into the circular economy value chain
- Conversion, commissioning and utilisation of decommissioned sorting plant
- Secure material flow in supply and acceptance
- Future-oriented and fluctuation-free business model
Project description
The initial question in the collaboration between A. Siemer and Source One was the joint consideration of how a sorting plant for lightweight packaging that had been shut down for ten years could be be utilised sensibly again. Source One finally answered the question with a holistic concept of circular economy value creation. The sustainable idea was to design the plant to utilise sorting residues that are usually incinerated. The endeavour was a success: The pioneering plant resorts the fraction of packaging waste classified as low-grade using newly combined technologies and prepares it for chemical recycling. In this way, it recovers around sixty per cent of the sorting residues for recycling. It is one of the first sorting plants that can separate dirt, foreign matter and impurities from the remaining plastic components. Its input capacity is 25,000 tonnes per year. The sorting fraction is available in sufficient quantities and is now being processed in Vechta for chemical recycling – a market of the future.
The main challenge in planning and upgrading the plant was the tight time frame in which Source One was able to realise the new technical concept based on the conditions of the old WEEE plant. Many of the design parameters were predetermined. The conversion of the plant took place during the ongoing business operations of the waste disposal company. Another clearly defined objective was to minimise the required investment for A. Siemer and the costs of the materials to be used.
In this project, Source One not only planned and developed the processing plant in Vechta, including the material flow, but also linked the parties involved to create an economically attractive and resource-saving cycle. In this process, Source One was able to contribute its three core competences – consulting, development and procurement – to create added value for each individual company in the new strategic partnership.
Source One participants, together with their respective teams: Kai Hoyer (consulting), Christian Bollmann (engineering), Armin Rösch (sourcing), Jens Paust (commissioning and training).
Result & outlook
Within nine months, sorting for chemical recycling has become a mainstay of A. Siemer – Entsorgungs GmbH. The company plans to increase the capacity of its innovative sorting plant for chemical recycling from 25,000 to 50,000 tonnes of input material.
Testimonial
“Kai Hoyer is a luminary of the circular economy. There’s no other way to express it. He brings people together who have common goals. Helping the environment by generating raw materials from waste – it doesn’t get any better than that. That convinced me. We have embarked on an exciting journey in full confidence and, as a traditional municipal and commercial company, have entered the new world of chemical recycling. In doing so, we are exactly in tune with the times. The team around Kai Hoyer was there for us throughout this process and answered all our questions – even the ones we hadn’t even asked ourselves yet.”
Zita Siemer, Partner A. Siemer Entsorgung
Brief profile: A. Siemer – Entsorgungs GmbH has been collecting residual and recyclable materials in the district of Vechta for more than a hundred years. The Lower Saxony-based family business was founded in 1920 by August Siemer and today operates 70 service vehicles. In addition to waste disposal and customised waste technology concepts, the services provided by the third generation also include surface and street cleaning as well as gully cleaning, container services and municipal waste collection. A logistics company, the innovative sorting plant and the recyclables trade round off the modern Siemer portfolio for waste disposal and cleanliness. The traditional company employs around 110 people in the region.