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Yorkshire and Cheshire waste firms collaborate in global food waste project

Organic waste and Waste-to-Energy technology specialist Tidy Planet has partnered with shredding expert UNTHA UK, to supply an industrial-scale solution for a new multi-million-pound Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF) at a gas pipeline expansion project in Indonesia.

Macclesfield-headquartered Tidy Planet has previously worked on a variety of composting projects in the global oil and gas sector. This latest venture requires numerous processes to treat the client’s plastic, metal and wood wastes, as well as five additional tonnes of food waste generated per day at a liquid gas plant in Tanguhh.

Processing of the large volume of food wastes will be achieved with a commercial-scale version of Tidy Planet’s Dehydra Dewatering system and two B2500s – the largest Rocket Composter the company manufactures.

Following a year-long tendering process, the Cheshire-based firm fought off tough competition from an Australasian equipment supplier and has also teamed up with UNTHA UK. The Boroughbridge-headquartered industrial shredding specialist will supply an LR1000 wood shredder and an RS30 four-shaft plastic shredder as part of the bid for the IWMF.


Commenting on the announcement, Tidy Planet’s sales manager Huw Crampton said: “This is a great project win for British business. As part of the tender, we specified for as much equipment as possible to be supplied by the UK – including conveyors from Bristol and biofilters from Somerset, to heavy-vessel fabrication in West Yorkshire.

“And for us at Tidy Planet, it equates to further investment in the company and team growth – including the appointment of a new project manager to oversee the venture.”

The Indonesia composting kit has a processing capacity x25 higher than Tidy Planet’s most popular model – the A900 – and is x45 bigger in its construction.

Huw continued: “The principle of composting is still the same with both models but the B2500 has some unique features to ensure maximum uptime. For example, despite shortening the length of the vessel itself, the w-shaped hull and twin agitators allow the kit to process the same volume. This configuration also offers optimised mixing action and less cold spots.”

Not only will the equipment help the IWMF deal with the vast volume of food waste it currently produces, it will create jobs for local people too. This includes pickers – who will ensure clean compost output by checking input materials are free of contaminants such as plastic – machinery operatives who will look after the segregation and processing of tonnes of plastics, metals and woods, plus a dedicated maintenance team.

The machine also gives the site the ability to cope with +30% fluctuations in waste.

UNTHA UK’s sales director, Gary Moore added: “The addition of the two UNTHA shredders at the IWMF are the perfect complement to Tidy Planet’s composting solution. We evaluated the material requirements and throughputs and the LR1000 and RS30 machines were the obvious choices.

“The IWMF will be providing the shredded wood needed for the composting process and as it results from a mix of hardwood logs, building timbers and broken pallets, we needed a versatile piece of equipment.

“With both the shredding and composting technologies in operation, this will help the oil firm fulfil its objective of achieving complete, closed-loop resource recovery at its Indonesia site – offering greater bottom-line benefit and autonomy over its waste management.”

Other UK organisations are also involved in the waste management overhaul, supplying can baling systems, control packages, and packing/crating services.