Costly production stoppages in municipal heating plants are a common problem across the country. Right now, a municipality in central Sweden is the first to try the technical solution that addresses the problem caused by aluminum packaging in the waste. 

When the aluminum, which arrives at the cogeneration plant via the garbage truck, is fired in the boiler, it melts and flows into the air holes where it solidifies. This means that the entire boiler has to be shut down and the metal knocked out by hand. Such a shutdown can happen several times in a year and cost millions each time. With Our 's technical solution to separate aluminum from, for example, recycled wood, it is now possible to both avoid production stops and to recycle more of the energy-intensive metal.

By adding a powerful eddy current magnet and adapting Norditek's flexible plant to the material flow, all incoming material can be separated and recycled more efficiently. The technology enables metal recycling of small particles of non-magnetic metal (such as aluminum).

Great benefit at the community level

There are over 300 heating plants in Sweden today, many of which have the same problems, which means that the social cost of the loss of production is hundreds of millions. It also means that the amount of aluminum that can be recycled has a significant impact on the recycling rate of aluminum in Sweden. This recycling saves 95% of the energy otherwise needed to create new aluminum.

It's not just about aluminum

The problem also arises with waste coming from the construction side, where there may be brass and other metals that present the same challenge to manage.

The advantage of Norditek's flexbila plant is that it is easily adapted to new material flows. If the next batch of waste coming in contains a different metal, plastic or material size, the modular plant can easily be adapted, expanded and optimized for the new flow.

More benefits of the technology

With the help of Screening plants, wind sifters and water bath , Norditek's facilities make it possible to achieve a very far-reaching and efficient recycling of different types of waste. 

The advantage is not only an increased recycling rate, but also reduced transportation and reduced mining operations. Last but not least, it also gives the material owner increased revenues with higher revenues on all end products.

Terex Washing Systems are flexible plant solutions of washing equipment for excavated material and recycling of aggregates. Norditek looks back on a successful collaboration with the Terex group and is pleased to be able to expand the product catalog on the Swedish market with the leading products for establishing smaller production facilities in washing and recycling.

Terex Washing Systems' plants are both flexible and more mobile, which means that they work very well even for smaller production. It is possible to recycle excavated material even for more people because the investment is smaller, mainly because the plant is optimized compared to a larger plant.

Possibility of obtaining very small fractions

The plants can deal with muddy and sticky masses and obtain very small fractions. It is possible to obtain fractions down to 2-4 mm. When dry washing is not enough, a plant from Terex Washing Systems is a good investment.

Our Experience shows that there are major economic and environmental benefits to be gained from increased recycling of excavated material.

Since the handling and excavation of new excavation materials often leads to an unnecessarily high climate impact, the Swedish Public Procurement Agency has recently developed new sustainability criteria for excavation materials that can be used in procurement and project planning.

Hi Niklas! What is most fun about working at Norditek?

- The best part is that we don't just sell machines off the shelf. We solve the customer's problem. Often we can do it in a different way than what the customer asks for and help them with a solution that they don't see themselves, because they don't know that there are lots of different ways to work with the material. It's great to see many different problems that companies have and to be able to help them recycle more material.

So what are customers asking for? 

- For example, a customer may call in and say they want a particular machine. But instead of saying yes, it costs so and so, we say: - sure, what kind of material do you want to run? Since the materials often look different, we would like to see the material, we can do a test run and demo for the customer, adapt the plant and make sure it is good.

What else do you do at Norditek?

- I'm responsible for Norditek's facility in Fjärås, where all the machines going out to the field in southern Sweden land first. I make sure the machines are ready to do the job. Since we do a lot of different jobs, a lot of adaptation is often required. For example, the machines have to go out and sort construction waste and plastic, recycle excavated material, or crush stone. The jobs and problems look different, so it's not always right the first time and if it's not good, we may need to insert a new component. We go out and test or make a start-up, adjust, lab with parameters, adapt a machine or the whole concept.

What else do you do in services?

- We work with service all around Sweden as it is Our market. The country is far and we have offices in Umeå and Gothenburg with close cooperation between us and our service partners. In the service part, I also work with the development of local production, delivering spare parts, managing our telematics system with connected machines and more. But above all, solving customers' problems in the field. This makes it a very versatile job with a lot of problem solving. 

Now that Norditek is recruiting, who do you think the job is for? 

- Someone technically interested, who thinks the recycling industry is an interesting place to be. We talk a lot about solving problems and there are short decision paths and easy to get help from colleagues in a smaller organization so it's not cumbersome. If you like to sit at the computer and talk to customers and solve problems, it's perfect. And if you like to develop the way we work, that opportunity is also available. We are growing and we have the will to invest a lot in development. We are a small company where a lot happens!

Thank you MacGyver!

The handling and excavation of new excavated soil leads to an unnecessarily large climate impact. The procurement authority has therefore developed new sustainability criteria for excavation materials that can be used in procurement and project planning.

Sustainability criteria for excavated soil - good in many ways

- "Our experience is that there are large economic and environmental benefits to be gained from increased recycling of excavated material. We therefore welcome these new sustainability criteria for excavated earth and stand ready with the technical solutions to deliver to those who will handle earth according to the new requirements", says Daniel Carlberg, CEO of Norditek Group.

According to the procurement authority, the climate impact of the construction sector must be significantly reduced and contracting organizations can make a difference by setting higher sustainability requirements when making purchases. Therefore, criteria have been developed for the handling of rock, sand, gravel and other excavation materials. The requirements should help to increase the reuse of masses and reduce the associated transports. Norditek has extensive experience in recycling excavation masses and topsoil and we are ready to deliver the technical solutions that meet the new requirements.

For example, see how our Terex Washing Systems machines recycle excavated soil in Belgium.