Waste Sectors
A circular economy solution for
a better world.
We are now moving forward with sustainable solutions, to significantly reduce or eliminate the amount of waste being deposited in landfills or mine waste facilities across the globe. This promotes a circular economy solution to the increasing amounts of waste produced year on year. Circular economy is an economic system based on business models which replaces the end-of-life concept with reducing, reusing, recycling and recovering materials. This mindset ultimately lessens the impact primary rock quarry has on the environment, whilst providing sustainable materials into the sector.
MINING WASTE
Repurposing secondary aggregates which are produced as a bio-product of metalliferous mining have become an essential part in meeting the demands of global growing infrastructure. Through better processing techniques, we are now able to recover much higher percentages of mine waste, which ultimately lessens the impact of primary rock quarry. This move provides sustainable products to the worlds growing demand, and diverts these products from mine waste facilities, all while lowering emissions and reducing carbon footprint and lessening the impact metalliferous mining has on the landform.
EXCAVATIONS & AGRICULTURAL WASTES
Agricultural waste was excluded from the regulations that controlled the management of household, commercial and industrial waste until 2005 in Scotland and 2006 in the remainder of the UK. The implementation of the following regulations means that waste management controls now also apply to agricultural waste, and they have the same regulatory requirements as other commercial and industrial wastes. Excavation waste is simply the process of moving earth, rock and other natural materials in order to create cavities in the earth.
MARINE DREDGING
A variety of harmful substances, including heavy metals, oil, TBT, PCBs and pesticides, can be effectively ‘locked into’ the seabed sediments in ports and harbours. These contaminants can often be of historic origin and from distant sources. The dredging and disposal processes can release these contaminants into the water column, making them available to be consumed by animals and plants, with the potential to cause poisoning.
With ports becoming busier every year, the demand on marine dredging is becoming higher and higher. The need for better processing techniques of dredging waste has never been higher. RIG’s engineering advancements in both the solids and fluids area facilitates the processing of complex wastes such as marine dredging’s.
CONSTRUCTION & DEMOLITION WASTE
Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) accounts for more than a third of all waste generated in the EU. Approximately 450 million tonnes of CDW is generated every year, which makes it the largest waste stream in quantitative terms, with the exception of mining and farm wastes. It contains a wide variety of materials such as concrete, bricks, wood, glass, metals and plastic. It includes all the waste produced by the construction and demolition of buildings and infrastructure, as well as road planning and maintenance.
Despite its potential, the level of recycling and material recovery of construction and demolition waste varies greatly across the globe, ranging from less than 10% to over 90%. EU counties apply different definitions of construction and demolition waste, which makes cross-country comparisons difficult
