CDE's largest C&D waste plant in Canada brings circular approach to Calgary’s construction industry
CDE, in partnership with Calgary Aggregate Recycling Inc. (CAR), will host an open house event to showcase the company's largest construction and demolition (C&D) waste recycling plant in Canada.
Recently commissioned at CAR's recycling facility in Calgary, the new 250 tons per hour (tph) washing plant, designed and engineered by CDE, will take centre stage on September 7, 2023, as representatives gather to learn more about CDE's recycling process and the impact its technology is having on resource availability in Calgary and Alberta.
"We have been very busy hosting tours since opening and have received tremendous feedback from the community on how we can help them achieve their business and environmental goals," says Travis Powell, president at Calgary Aggregate Recycling. "We set out to establish economical and viable solutions to position Alberta as a leader in sustainable and responsible construction. We started this process by applying for a grant with Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA). It believed in the impact our proposal could have and gave us the start we needed to get to where we are today."
Enabled by CDE washing technology, the CAR now has the capacity to process an additional 600,000 tons of waste material to produce more than 1.25 million tons of construction sand and aggregate products every year across the company's operations
"This plant is both the largest we have ever commissioned in Canada, but also our first partnership with CAR which demonstrates real confidence in our washing technology and recycling process," adds CDE's Business Development Manager for Canada, Adrian Convery. "It's a partnership that is pioneering better ways of managing resources in Canada, driving forward the agenda for change, and building a strong case for the adoption of recycled materials in the construction industry by highlighting the immense potential of C&D waste streams."
In addition to the significant volume of material the plant is diverting from landfills, the circular approach to resource management is also helping to reduce carbon emissions in Alberta, particularly when it is estimated that the population growth of Canada will double by 2050.
"CDE waste recycling solutions are perfectly adapted to support urban centres where the need for construction materials is greatest," continues Adrian. "As well as landfill diversion, our solutions help to realize sustainability aims by reducing, or completely eliminating, the requirement to truck in sand and aggregate resources from other jurisdictions – an approach that generally comes at a significant environmental cost."
It is expected that the plant will help to reduce carbon emissions in Alberta by an estimated 22,567 tons annually.
CDE facilitated meetings virtually and utilized 3D modelling and remote technologies to showcase to CAR many of its international waste recycling plants. These plants include Brewster Bros, based in Scotland, which recently announced it was investing in its second CDE wash plant, and the Long Island, New York-based Posillico Materials LLC, home to what CDE says is the first contaminated soils wash plant of its kind in the U.S.
CAR commissioned its first-ever wash plant consisting of an R4500 primary feeding and scalping screen with the M4500 modular sand washing plant and AggMax 253R scrubbing and classification system, which combines pre-screening, scrubbing, organics removal, sizing, stockpiling, fines recovery, and filtrates removal on a compact chassis.
The wash plant also features CDE's EvoWash, a modular sand washing system that screens and separates smaller sand and gravel fractions through an integrated high-frequency dewatering screen and hydrocyclone technology to provide control of silt cut points and eliminate the loss of fines, as well as its CFCU (counter flow classification unit) technology which offers a variable cut (separation) point to provide greater control over sand classification.
CDE's AquaCycle thickener water management system is also part of the new wash plant. The AquaCycle thickener offers recycling of up to 90 percent of process water, and its filter press sludge dewatering system which presses sludge discharged from the thickener to recover even more water – bringing recovery up to 95 percent.
The CDE wash plant is transforming C&D waste into a high-value suite of construction products, helping CAR to generate additional revenue while simultaneously diverting significant tonnages of material from landfill.
Among the outputs are zero- to one-millimetre fine and zero- to four-millimetre coarse sands as well as four- to 10-millimetre undersize, 10- to 20-millimetre midsize, plus 20- to 40-millimetre, 40- to 100-millimetre and > 100-millimetre oversize aggregates.
Frequently tested to ensure compliance with the City of Calgary standards and specifications, the product suite is being marketed to the construction industry in the Calgary and Alberta areas.
Prior to CAR working with CDE, it did not have an outlet for contaminated soils. Trucks were taking a 350-kilometre round trip to dispose of contaminated soils at a landfill whereas now the trucks have increased load frequencies per day with less servicing required resulting in a reduction in carbon emissions. Additionally, CAR is producing in-spec material for the Calgary and wider construction sector.
