Admec gets chance to 'sweep up' competition; Construction Report.

WET weather has created a new opportunity for a cleaning company to "sweep up" the competition.

An exceptionally wet summer has highlighted a new waste management problem for the construction industry; how to dispose of road sweepings arising from construction sites.

It has also provided the ideal conditions for Admec's award-winning treatment plant to demonstrate its value.

In wet weather construction sites require their access roads to be swept up to three times as often as in dry conditions. The sweepings also become a slurry that invariably exceeds the 10% free draining water content that means it is classified as liquid waste.

Admec began the project to install a specialised sweepings treatment plant, capable of separating and recovering water and solids, at its 2.5-acre site at Birtley, Gateshead, two years ago.

The aim was partly to provide a more environmentally-friendly method of disposal for customers who did not want sweepings discharged on their sites.

But the major factor at the time was the increasing cost of water consumed by their sweepers and threats of future water shortages.

With only very limited examples of road sweepings treatment to draw upon, Admec resorted to technology developed for separating water from solids in other sectors.

The result was a custom-designed plant mainly comprising a raised tank, accessed by a ramp, and fitted with a Lamella filter and screening systems.

The sweepers reverse up the ramp and discharge directly into the tank.

The water is drawn off for cleaning and re-use in the sweepers and the solids sink to the bottom of the tank and are removed by an integral scraper blade for further treatment.

The recovered solids are no longer classed as waste and the company is currently looking at a range of applications in which it can be re-used - including, most simply, returning it to the construction industr y.

Two legislative developments have made the plant even more relevant than Admec anticipated.

Firstly, since October last year under European landfill regulations, liquid waste is banned from landfill and all waste must be pre-treated before discharge, usually by landfill operators or third-party treatment plants.

Admec can meet these pre-treatment requirements in-house.

Secondly, the introduction of Site Waste Management Plans (SWMPs) has focused the construction industry's efforts to improve environmental performance.

Over the past few months Admec has been working closely with Taylor Wimpey North East to develop the processes and documentation within a package of services that meet the construction industries operational and environmental requirements.

Peter Shaw, senior buyer, has a key role in meeting his company's commitment to reduce the amount of waste it sends to landfill by 50%.

He identified sweeper waste as an area where savings could be made.

He said: "The fact that our sweeper waste automatically went to landfill was unacceptable.

"Admec was the only sweeper company I contacted which understood the principles of Site Waste Management Plans (SWMP) and was doing something about it.

"We worked with them both to establish the sweeping services we need and to develop the format for a report, which helps me to monitor my forecasts accurately.

"We are now working with them to develop ways of applying the recovered solids on our sites so we can close the loop entirely."

CAPTION(S):

SPECIALISED Admec's treatment plant has proved its worth.