Lancashire recycling firm targets growth after investment in new machine

Lancashire Waste Recycling which has a plant at Burn Hall, Fleetwood and one in Hapton, Burnley, has brought in the new machine to make the high-specification Solid Recovered Fuel which is used to power industrial furnaces.

The firm says the investment will also halve plant wear costs and further boosted manufacturing capacity.

The firm has been making the fuel at its Fleetwood site since it was established in 2013.

An UNTHA XR2000 pre-shredder fed two TR3200s secondary shredders, to produce a renewable energy source for the cement industry.

But as UNTHA’s engineering innovation continued Lancashire Waste worked with the UK division of this global brand to understand how to leverage the potential that next-generation technology could bring.

So when Lancashire Waste opened its second SRF production plant in Burnley, a single UNTHA XR3000C was installed at its heart.

This slower speed equipment could produce a quality 40mm fuel in a single pass, without the concerns surrounding downtime or damage when higher speed machines encounter unshreddable items.

In 2019, the growing company tested the new UNTHA XR3000XC which could make 30mm particles with more throughput than the two TRs combined.

The two Fleetwood post-shredders have now been switched, so that the original XR2000 feeds the XR3000C and the new 85rpm XR3000XC machine. A 65rpm XR3000XC has also been added to the Burnley line.

Lancashire Waste’s founder Jim Entwistle said: “As a business, we’re constantly looking to progress, so consistency and capacity are key to our operation. We work with three UK cement kilns and one export offtaker, and the better quality the fuel, the more our clients seek.

"We’ve doubled our supply to one kiln, for example, over the past 18 months, so the impact on our business – from savvier waste shredding – is vast.

“Add to this 40 per cent less energy costs, halved wear costs and only minimal damage repairs as we’ve moved away from high speed machines, and the business case for our shredder investment is extremely strong.”