Modernised operation

Latest waste processing technologies in operation in Belgium

1 D1-65 CDE screen. Used as the pre-screen to the RotoMax 80, it removes the sand before the aggregate scrubbing stage

2 RotoMax, part of the AggMax (right) and CFCU EvoWash (left) systems process highly variable feed material into high-value materials for a variety of applications

3 The heavy-duty AggMax incorporates five processes: pre-screening, scrubbing/attrition, sizing, contaminants removal and stockpiling. CFCU EvoWash offers optimal dewatering results and effective separation of differing relative density material

4 Washed sand stockpile

D‌e Bree Solutions upgrades its 20-year-old equipment range to boost process efficiency and respond to growing demand. Founded in the 1970s, the family-owned company, then known as Cleaning De Bree, established itself as a specialist sewage and waste collection service provider, offering septic tank emptying, cleaning and pumping amongst its range of services.

Having expanded its focus over the past five decades, De Bree Solutions, as it is known today, is active in industrial cleaning, green processing, soil cleaning, soil remediation, waste management, water purification and sewer renovation throughout Belgium, Netherlands and France. Its most significant shift occurred at the turn of millennium when, as a result of evolving environmental legislation, De Bree Solutions invested heavily in the latest recycling technologies of the day, establishing soil remediation and water purification facilities at its site in Maldegem and opening three new sites in Ostend, Eke and Schoondijke where valuable raw materials are, to this day, recovered from contaminated and inert waste streams.

Now De Bree Solutions once again is investing in the latest waste processing technologies, engineered by industry experts CDE, as it enters a period of business growth and sustained demand for its product range. “Now is the right moment for us to invest,” says Yves Dupont, Managing Director at De Bree Solutions. Streamlining and making efficient an ageing plant setup at its Maldegem facility were key to supporting the company to grow sustainably and remain competitive.

“Integration with the existing plant setup was essential for the project,” says Eunan Kelly, Head of Business Development for North West Europe at CDE. De Bree Solutions wanted to achieve competitive advantage, reduced OPEX, cost-effective and efficient solutions. Top of the list was durable technologies that could integrate with the company’s existing setup. De Bree Solutions also sought to expand the processing capacity of its operation. Eunan Kelly continues: “Equipped with this knowledge, having also surveyed the site and the existing plant, we identified shortcomings in components, inefficient transfer points and a sand product that had the potential to achieve a higher specification.”

The solution proposed by CDE included its AggMax, EvoWash and CFCU systems to process highly variable feed material including organic waste, contaminated soils containing metals, cyanide and oil; construction, demolition and excavation (CD&E) waste; and road sweepings.

The versatile design of CDE’s AggMax technology incorporates five processes on a single and compact portable chassis, including pre-screening, scrubbing/attrition, sizing, contaminants removal and stockpiling. The heavy-duty AggMax can process challenging CD&E waste material containing large quantities of organic and other inert physical contaminants into high-value materials suitable for a variety of applications in the construction industry.

Fine material is processed by CDE’s signature EvoWash technology. A compact, modular sand washing system, the EvoWash screens and separates the smaller sand and gravel fractions through an integrated high-frequency dewatering screen, sump and hydrocyclones which provide unrivalled control of silt cut points and eliminates the loss of quality fines with significant commercial value. Incorporating CDE’s patented Infinity Screen technology, the EvoWash offers optimal dewatering results which enables materials processors to produce a range of high-quality sands that are market-ready straight from the belt.

CFCU technology allows for effective separation of two materials of differing relative densities. With a variable cut (separation) point, it offers greater control over sand classification providing complete flexibility for the production of various end products and the removal of lightweight contaminants from the fine material fraction.

The full solution was designed around the customer’s specific needs, Kelly explained. Where the original plant had two cyclones, it now only has one, which Kelly says is a less costly and more efficient way of working. An existing CFCU was also replaced, he adds. “The sand product wasn’t of a high quality, but our tests showed it could be produced to a higher specification. It was the outdated technology that was letting it down. The new CFCU technology ensures consistent sand specification from a much more reliable system which requires less maintenance.”

Integrating seamlessly with the existing plant setup, CDE’s tailored solution has almost doubled processing capacity at the Maldegem site. “We’re targeting 400 t/d day, in one production shift, of sand and stone which will of course vary due to the variable nature of the material we process, but the fact is that thanks to CDE we now have that capacity there which will help us keep up with growing demand,” Dupont explains.