The international recycling group Sims Metal Management has revealed its multi-year strategic growth plan for the period up to 2025. The company wants to further expand its existing ferrous and non-ferrous metals and e-waste recycling operations, but it is also looking to enter a new market. Sims intends to set up an energy from waste business, the company told attendees of an investor strategy day in New York.
Sims plans to build and operate a total of seven energy recovery plants over the next ten years. About three quarters of the input material is to consist of automotive shredder residue (ASR) or “fluff” from the recycler's own plants and one quarter of high-calorific waste from third parties. The company is focusing on gasification technology, chief technology officer Brendan McDonnall explained in his presentation. He noted that conventional incineration results in substantial residues in the form of slag. "Incineration still creates a lot of waste, and that’s not really where we want to be. We want to be cleaner," Mr McDonnall explained. The amount of incineration bottom ash was equivalent to around 30 per cent of the input material, while the amount of gasification slag was only about 18 per cent of the input volume.
The complete report on Sims' newly announced growth strategy will appear in EUWID Recycling & Waste Management 8/2019 – out next week.
