Environmentally friendly solution
From reduction in required landfill space, to production of recycled materials and lower transport costs - with the associated carbon footprint – the Powerscreen® Aggwash can provide “environmentally friendly” solutions. Every site is unique and has its own challenges for setting up and running a crushing, screening or washing plant. When applying to reopen the Elford quarry/Birmingham, JPE Holdings faced a challenge. The company wanted to continue extracting 350 000 t of sand and gravel reserves as well as to dispose of construction and demolition waste. To do this required working with local environment agencies to ensure an ecologically sound plan for the site. Extensive environmental and noise pollution regulations meant that JPE Holdings needed the right solution for the problems unique to the site.
During the years when the quarry was shut down, a fresh-water lake had developed naturally where local fishermen had started to stock fish and wildlife such as geese and pheasant had settled. As part of JPE’s planning application to reopen the quarry, the decision was made that the lake and surrounding areas in the quarry should be retained, in as much as they were an attraction and of ecological interest. The Aggwash system was transported to the Elford quarry (Fig.) in May 2010 and JPE is now paid to receive waste, process it, and then sell the washed aggregate produced. The recycled aggregate is used for laneways, low grade concrete or asphalt, drainage and pipe bedding. Before the introduction of the Aggwash, the materials for these applications would have come from natural sand and gravel sources, at considerable extra cost, both for the buyers and for the environment. Due to the satisfaction with the performance of the machine, JPE is planning to make the Aggwash an even more efficient machine, as the technology now being tested is further developed.
Powerscreen, Dungannon (NI), Tel.: +44 28 877 18500, www.powerscreen.com
