Wheelabrator, Inashco Form Joint Venture to Recycle Metals from Waste to Energy

Wheelabrator Technologies Inc. and Inashco BV are forming a joint venture to recycle metals from the waste-to-energy (WTE) process.

Wheelabrator, the Waste Management Inc. waste-to-energy subsidiary based in Hampton, N.H., said the 50-50 joint venture firm with the Dutch firm Inashco is called Eco Recovery Solutions LLC (ERS). The facility will use the Rotterdam-based Inashco’s advanced dry recovery process to recycle ferrous and non-ferrous metals from the WTE process, according to a news release.

Wheelabrator said the process has a proven track record in Europe and can process fresh ash without aging the product.

The method can process non-ferrous metals such as copper, zinc, lead and aluminum as small as 0.5 mm in size – smaller than what can be recovered from conventional technologies.

ERS will benefit from Inashco’s specialized central upgrading facilities, now in Europe and planned for the United States. The recycling process at the facilities produce two streams – a heavy non-ferrous product and a light non-ferrous material to be sold to Fondel Metals, Inashco’s parent firm.