Full Scale Plant

Thermal Recycling has now reached a really exciting stage in its development as a world leader in diverting asbestos away from landfill. Having operated from a limited capacity “demonstration plant” for the last few years, we have now taken the decision to develop the world’s first full scale plant for the treatment of cement bound chrysotile. It will have an annual capacity of around 15,000 tonnes.

It is essential that asbestos is diverted away from landfill. Landfill is simply a form of storage for asbestos. Whilst it may be better that asbestos is stored in a hole in the ground than be present in a building, landfill is at best a temporary solution leaving it as a problem for future generations to deal with. Thermal Recycling’s process now means that asbestos can be eliminated and the treated material can be safely used. We are a genuine circular economy business.

Our demonstration plant has been an essential step in the development of our business. When dealing with asbestos, it is not possible to move from a small scale or lab operation to a full scale denaturing plant without taking an intermediate step, as we have done. This step has enabled us to refine the design of our kiln, to develop effective critical processes, to understand the economic drivers of the business, to de-risk the investment in a full-scale plant, to identify potential uses for the treated material and to determine that there is sufficient interest in diverting asbestos away from landfill to justify the significant investment required for a full-scale plant.

One lesson we have learned is that we need more space than we currently have. As our lease has expired we have decided that there is no further benefit to be gained by continuing to operate from the demonstration plant. We are in discussions with our landlord about the possibility of leasing additional space so that we can continue to benefit from our current Environment Agency permit which does allow us to develop a full-scale plant. It is also possible to build the plant elsewhere, for example, near an existing waste treatment facility, transfer station or landfill site.

A full-scale plant will mean that the very many asbestos consultancies and removal companies, demolition and decommissioning companies and businesses that are committed to sustainability and to sending zero to landfill will be able to take a step further towards achieving their goals.

We have begun a formal process to find an industry partner to work with us to develop the full-scale plant. Whilst we expect it to take some time before an agreement with the right partner is formalised we look forward to providing an update.