Blue Phoenix Group

Blue Phoenix Group operates incinerator bottom ash (IBA) processing installations globally and helps the Energy-from-Waste sector with sustainable solutions for their ash residues. We recycle IBA by extracting (non-) ferrous metals, while producing final clean minerals for reuse: IBA aggregates (IBAA). With over 20 years of experience, we see IBAA as a valuable resource usable as an alternative for manufactured aggregates in many applications, such as road construction, concrete products and land reclamation. Partnering with Blue Phoenix Group means maximizing ash recovery, minimizing landfill and building a sustainable future by closing the loop for both recovered metals and mineral aggregates.

Our Technology Offers

Resource Recovery from Incineration Bottom Ash

The increase in municipal solid waste (MSW) in the past decades is a major environmental and societal concern. Waste management technologies have continuously improved to recycle and manage waste to minimise the impacts on the environment. Nevertheless, a great proportion of MSW cannot effectively be recycled. The incineration of MSW for energy recovery is an effective way to utilise the so called “non-recyclable” portion, reduce waste volume and replace fossil fuels to generate energy for utility. The energy recovery process liberates valuable resources that can now be extracted from the ash residues and recirculated in the economy.

Based in The Netherlands, the technology owner has developed an innovative incineration bottom ash (IBA) wet washing process technology that recycle ash, extract ferrous and non-ferrous metals, while producing a final clean mineral for reuse as aggregates for the construction industry. The IBA is washed in various intense washing steps and holds integrated metal sorting for improved fine metal recovery. In the initial washing step, all particles are rinsed and cleaned from adhering dirt and organics, and then screened into fractions for further processing. Deep metal recovery is fully integrated into the washing process to recover fine metals. The mineral fraction is cleaned from soluble contaminants as chlorides and sulphates by multiple counter current washing steps to create a clean mineral aggregate that complies with regulation.

Effectively, the process removes contaminants in IBA to create an aggregate material that can be used as a low carbon alternative to traditional construction materials. The technology owner is seeking industry partners internationally to adopt the process technology.