Finlay provides a touch of glass

A new glass reprocessing plant has started operating at Bank End Quarry, a 55 ha site in Blaxton, South Yorkshire, UK.

Moss Construction Aggregates and Recycling Limited, which has been operating the 35 year-old quarry for the last five years, decided to start the "cutting edge reprocessing plant" in an effort to add a "new string to the company's bow", according to director Ean Noble.

"It's all about thinking outside the box," said Mr Noble. "We needed to diversify."

Waste glass arriving at the site is first ground to -50 mm in a Tesab RK623 impact crusher before entering a Terex Finlay 390 feeder to a Terex Finlay MP300 16 x 6 ft (4.88 x 1.83 m), triple-deck, horizontal washing screen.

Any lightweight material, such as paper or plastic, is floated off through a Mogensen Trash Screen, while the -6 mm glass fines enter a Terex Finlay TC15 Sandmaster.

The Sandmaster's twin cyclones separate the washing water from the clean glass fines, which are stockpiled before being sold for use in concrete block and pipe construction.

However, the versatility of the plant at Bank End Quarry means it is not limited to just processing glass.

Construction and demolition (C&D) waste can also be put through the system, which is fitted with a magnetic belt to remove ferrous metal prior to feeding into the MP300.

"The -6 mm sand fraction recovered from the C&D waste is fed into the Sandmaster to produce washed recycled sand for utility fill," explained Mr Noble.

"The +6 mm is further processed through a Finlay 206 Logwasher for further removal of clay and rinsing, before grading in a Finlay 683 Supertrak into 40 x 20 mm, 20 x 10 mm and -10 mm clean secondary aggregate," he added.

In an effort to reduce its financial outlay when setting up the new glass reprocessing plant, Moss Construction Aggregates and Recycling worked closely with Finlay Hire, part of the Finlay Group of companies.

"We couldn't have made the huge initial outlay that would have been necessary to purchase all this machinery outright," said Mr Noble.

"Finlay Hire gave us the opportunity to set up the system, which can process between 80 to 100 tonnes of waste per hour. Of the material processed as much as 90% will be reused, which is a significant reduction in waste going to landfill," he added.

A video of the plant in action can be seen here.