Offtakes
We Produce Offtakes
Offtakes explained
At Lancashire Renewables, we produce a range of products from the waste we receive from household waste collections.
Each type of waste (“offtake”) is transported to various organisations for reuse or recycling.
Mixed glass
The vast majority of the comingled waste we receive is glass; over 60% by weight. By the time it arrives on site, the majority is less than 40mm in size. The first step in the processing of comingled recyclates is to remove the glass. This is a mixed grade glass and will go on for further reprocessing. On a normal day, we will produce 60 – 90 tonnes. In January however, after the Christmas festivities, this can increase to 250 – 300 tonnes per day.
Refuse derived fuel (RDF)
Refuse Derived Fuel is a fuel produced from the various types of combustible waste found within black bag household waste. It can be used as an alternative to fossil fuels in a number of industries. It can be used to produce electricity in Energy from Waste (EfW) facilities or be refined to make Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF). Across our two facilities, we produce over 125,000 tonnes of RDF per year.
Compost like Output (CLO)
Compost Like Output is produced from household black bag waste. The smaller fractions which contain high amounts of food waste and other organic material is dried in our bio-drying halls over the course of a 4-week period. After a second screening, it is sent to other companies who process the material to meet Animal By-Product Regulations (ABPR) to ensure there is no harmful bacteria present as it will then be used for land restoration projects such as old quarries. At Thornton, we currently produce approximately over 28,000 tonnes per year.
PET plastic
Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) plastic is one of the polymers we separate through our Material Recovery Facility (MRF). We also separate the clear PET from the coloured. This see-through plastic is primarily made up of water bottles, soft and fizzy drinks bottles, food trays. This material is sent for further processing, where it is washed and flaked and sent for reprocessing. We produce approximately 1,500 tonnes of PET plastic each year.
HDPE natural plastic
High Density Polyethylene plastic is extracted, as both a natural and a colour stream. The natural stream is mainly milk bottles. This commodity is sent for further reprocessing where it is washed and granulated. It is quite often used to make pipework and garden items. We produce over 1000 tonnes of HDPE natural plastics per year.
HDPE coloured plastic
HDPE coloured plastic is made up of bottles for items such as bleach bottles, laundry detergents and cleaning products. Like HDPE natural plastic, this plastic is hardwearing and weather resistant so it will often be used in the manufacture of recycling bins. We produce over 450 tonnes of this grade per year.
Mixed plastics
The vast majority of our mixed plastic material is Polypropylene (PP). this is used to make pots, tubs and trays, for example yoghurt pots, margarine containers, medicine bottles, take away containers, microwave meal trays. Any other plastics which have not been selected by our equipment also end up in this material. We produce over 3,500 tonnes of mixed plastics each year.
Aluminium cans
Aluminium cans are a high value product which can be recycled and reused numerous times. They are extracted from the comingled by using an Eddy Current Separator, a powerful magnetic field which repels the aluminium away from the other materials. We recover this material from both the comingled recyclates and from the household black bag waste. It is sent for further reprocessing by other companies before it goes back to the aluminium smelters so it can be recycled back into cans. Each year we recover over 2,000 tonnes of aluminium.
Steel cans
Steel cans, like aluminium cans, can be recycled and reused numerous times. The steel cans are extracted using an over-band magnet which attracts the steel and pulls it out of the other waste. The cans are sent either to metal reprocessors or direct into steel works where they are put into a furnace and melted so it can be poured into large slabs. These can then be used for numerous applications. We recover over 4,000 tonnes of steel each year.
Mixed paper and cardboard
Each year we deal with around 38,000 tonnes of mixed paper and cardboard in our network. On the most part, the material is collected from one of the transfer stations and delivered in to one of offtakers for further processing to remove any contamination before being sent to a paper mill. Some of our material which is delivered directly to our Farington facility will be baled and delivered straight into the paper mill. Most of this material will go on to become packaging material, such as boxes.
HWRC items
The items listed below should be taken to a HWRC rather than being placed in a bin:
- Gas canisters
- Nitrous oxide gas canisters
- Car batteries
- Helium cylinders
- Electrical waste
- Large metal items, such as clothes airers
- Paint cans
- Wood
- Concrete blocks and stone or hardcore
- Items containing batteries, particularly those containing lithium batteries
effectively reduce waste
Operations & Maintenance
The primary aim of the Operations and Maintenance Service is to help our stakeholders effectively reduce waste through efficient operational and maintenance activities at our two purpose-built sites.