HaloSep: Demonstration Plant for Fly Ash Recycling

In November last year, the HaloSep facility at Danish waste management company Vestforbrænding was inaugurated in a digital event, which represented the start of the operational test period.

The facility, a joint project of Stena Metall and Vestforbrænding, is “the world’s first full-scale HaloSep plant”, the information said. It would convert fly ash from incineration processes into useful resources such as metals and salt, as well as purified fly ash. The project was part-financed by EU-LIFE, the European Commission’s financial instrument supporting environmental, nature conservation and climate action projects.

 

The problem with fly ash
In many countries around the world, incineration plants create electricity and district heating from waste. However, this processing method generates flue gas waste – fly ash – which contains chlorides and heavy metals and is classified as hazardous waste. Therefore, this problematic by-product must be disposed of in special landfills, causing carbon dioxide emissions due to transportation and costs for landfill fees.

 

According to the information, HaloSep offers a new, sustainable solution for recycling and cleaning fly ash. The process recovers valuable metals from the ash that, instead of being lost, can be used again, Stena Metal described the advantages. The plant would also extract salt, which could be used on roads or in industrial applications. “What remains is a purified form of ash that is not classified as environmentally hazardous and can, therefore, be deposited locally at regular landfill sites.” This process would reduce the overall volume of fly ash produced by about 40 percent due to the recycled material being separated. “The ultimate goal is for the remaining ash to be used in the production of construction materials.”

As reported, HaloSep has already generated interest in several parts of the world, and it is not expected to decrease as the demonstration plant starts to deliver results.

www.lifehalosep.eu

(Published in GLOBAL RECYCLING Magazine 1/2021, Page 50, Photo: Stena Metal)