UK FIRST FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT SPECIALISTS

One of the UK’s largest independent waste management groups says it has developed a process to recover Nickel of 99.9% purity from the complex waste generated mainly by the metal plating industry.

With the price of Nickel expected to be around $10,000 (£6,800) per tonne this year, Southampton-based Cleansing Service Group says a new processing facility installed at its Cadishead site near Manchester is, the company believes, the first in the UK capable of recovering Nickel from spent Electroless Nickel solutions.

“Although it has been possible for many years to recover Nickel from solution by means of electrolysis the electrolyte needs to be relatively pure. Spent Electroless Nickel solutions contain high levels of organics and salts and are notoriously difficult to recover by Electrolysis alone. The new method, which has taken nearly a year to develop in conjunction with metal recovery specialists Kurion Technologies, successfully overcomes these problems,” said Neil Richards, CSG’s processing and disposal director.

“Results from the many months of proving trials have shown the new method consistently delivers viable amounts of high purity nickel.

“It is also important for our increasingly fragile environment that as much as possible of this valuable metal bearing waste, which has recently been re-classified as hazardous by the Environment Agency, is recycled and doesn’t finish up in landfill sites, or is disposed of illegally.”

The plant that was purpose-built at Cadishead to develop and prove the technology puts the waste solution through a pioneering multi-stage pre-treatment chemical process before conventional electrolysis is employed to plate out the nickel. The company expects the facility to be in full production in the very near future.

The plant will be duplicated to increase production if demand makes this necessary, or if it is decided to use the technology to recover other metals from waste such as copper.

CSG managing director Paul Quigley said that the investment illustrated the company’s commitment to increasing their recycling capabilities alongside making their processing techniques as environmentally friendly as possible.

“The development of the nickel recovery facility is a prime example of how our company has invested heavily in infrastructure, new technologies and expert staff to ensure we are doing everything possible to both help the environment and comply with the growing raft of environmental legislation and regulation which UK industry has to contend with.”