Modelling of post-fragmentation waste stream processing within UK shredder facilities.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Materials Science
• Engineering

Background:

• UK producer responsibility legislation mandates recycling targets for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and end-of-life vehicles (ELVs).
• Automated material separation technologies are crucial in UK post-fragmentation facilities for waste management.
• Current UK facilities are optimized for ferrous metals, lacking flexibility for diverse end-of-life product materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the need for optimizing waste reclamation processes for better value recovery from end-of-life products.
• To develop a flexible post-fragmentation modeling approach for simulating automated material separation.
• To create a software decision-support system for evaluating the value-added processing of fragmented waste streams.

Main Methods:

• Development of a post-fragmentation modeling approach simulating automated separation equipment.
• Incorporation of factors like technological inefficiencies, material entanglement, material sizing, and compositional value.
• Implementation of the modeling approach within a software decision-support system.

Main Results:

• The developed model can simulate the impact of automated separation on fragmented waste streams.
• The approach accounts for key variables influencing separation efficiency and value recovery.
• A software decision-support system has been implemented based on this modeling approach.

Conclusions:

• The developed modeling approach offers a more flexible and value-driven method for optimizing waste reclamation.
• This approach can help UK facilities adapt to increasing material diversity and stringent recycling targets.
• Further calibration and validation are necessary to enhance the model's predictive capabilities.