Mildura company diverts C&D waste from landfill

Victorian company Waters Excavation has invested in an 80 tonne per hour wash plant from CDE to recover sand and aggregates from concrete waste.

Based in Mildura, the family-run business is an earth moving contractor to various feed streams including crushed concrete, scalpings and a fine sand deposit, working on a range of civil construction works from minor works to government infrastructure projects.

Waters Excavation wanted to reduce the amount of C&D waste sent to landfill, not only in a bid to become more sustainable, but also to recover material that can be sold to be repurposed in the local construction market.

In 2019, Waters Excavation first met wet processing experts CDE at global trade show bauma in Munich, Germany. The Australian CDE team worked with Waters Excavation to understand their needs and wants, to create a solution suited to them.

Michael Waters said the team had heard great things about CDE’s technologies from another one of its Australian customers, which firmed the decision to partner with them to divert C&D waste from landfill.

Solution

CDE’s solution incorporates the EvoWash sand wash plant, AggMax modular logwasher, a feed hopper and stockpile conveyor. Working together, these technologies enable Waters Excavation to produce five products for the local market.

CDE’s S20 Hopper meters feed to the plant, the feed conveyor includes an integrated magnet for steel recovery, ensuring that Water’s Excavation can recover as much material as possible to divert more from landfill.

The high frequency Infinity D1-63 pre-screen removes sand prior to the attrition process. High-frequency screening action ensures maximum sand removal, and the incorporation of the Infinity D1-43 screen dewaters organic and lightweight wastes liberated from the attrition process, enabling the production of two sands.

CDE’s RotoMax logwasher can be used in the processing of a variety of materials such as sand and gravel, crushed rock, construction and demolition waste material as well as a range of mineral ores and efficiently scrubs material for maximum attrition.

The incorporation of the AggMax modular logwasher upward flow rejects organics and other lightweight contaminants that are dewatered on the integrated trash screen. The Infinity H2-60 sizing screen separates the material into three washed aggregates and allows the removal of sand liberated by the RotoMax’s attrition process.

Fines are passed to the EvoWash, a high-frequency dewatering screen with hydro cyclone technology, which gives control of silt cut points, allowing production of high value, in-spec product straight from the belt.

Result

Waters Excavation is producing five products thanks to CDE’s wash plant. Two sands; 0-2mm and a 0-4mm sand as well as three aggregates; 4-10mm, 10-16mm, and 16mm-oversize.

Waters said one of the plant’s main features is the ability to scrub aggregates of clay and float off lightweight contaminants such as leaves, sticks and light plastics.

“It’s been a real success,” he said. “I’m blown away with the level of contaminants we were able to remove from the waste stream and how clean the end products were.”

It’s a solution that could be replicated throughout regional Australia to divert C&D waste from landfill, which would have huge environmental benefits

Daniel Webber, CDE Regional Manager for Australasia said: “We’re delighted to see this plant up and running for Waters Excavation. Both of us are passionate about sustainability and recovering as much was as we can to be repurposed in local markets, contributing to a circular economy.

“Plants like this are the future of the industry in their ability to minimise waste and maximise value, and we’re proud to share our expertise to create a solution which recovers and reuses valuable resources.”

For more information, visit cdegroup.com.