Metals and IT recycler Sims Ltd. has announced the closure of its Sims Resource Renewal (SRR) subsidiary, ending the project which was to produce syngas from automotive shredder residue (ASR or "fluff"). Despite the successful commissioning of a demonstration plant in Rocklea, in Queensland, Australia, the company believes that "current market conditions are not yet conducive to scaling the technology".
When Sims first announced plans to build gasification plants for the treatment of automotive shredder residue in 2019, it was aiming to build seven energy recovery plants over the course of a decade. The facilities were to use a plasma-assisted gasification technology supplied by the US company Inentec. Around three quarters of the feed material for the plant fleet was to originate from Sims' own shredding operations. However, the projects hit a number of speed bumps over the years....
