Creating value from the final recycling of waste management devices
Stena Recycling and Europress are working together to recycle our waste management devices sustainably and ecologically
Companies and private consumers are increasingly aware of the importance of recycling. Sustainability means using the products and services of companies that take care of final recycling and reuse in an environmentally friendly way. The IoT solutions offered by Europress ensure that carbon dioxide emissions are reduced during the lifetime of our waste management devices by emptying and recycling waste fractions efficiently, but recycling does not stop there. It continues even after our waste management devices have reached the end of their service life!
The life cycle of a single Europress waste compactor or baler used in the circular economy can stretch to almost twenty years. Even though the use of the device for waste recycling eventually ends at some point, the device itself does not become useless or environmentally hazardous waste if it is recycled properly. With the help of our partner Stena Recycling, almost one hundred percent of the materials contained in end-of-life waste management devices can be reutilised as new raw materials.
Scrap has real value
Stena Recycling is a leader in iron and metal recycling. The company scraps equipment at the end of its life cycle and recycles the materials it processes for reuse in various industries, such as the metal industry. Stena Recycling’s more than 50 years of experience in the recycling business ensures that the materials and components of waste management devices are processed safely and can be reutilised in the form of new raw materials.
Steel is a desirable material for recycling due to the global shortage of recycled steel. It is already the most recycled material in the world because it has a lower carbon intensity than other materials and its quality does not suffer from recycling. Therefore, all available steel scrap is valuable to use.
Stena Recycling processes and refines six million tonnes of various materials and waste each year. These are processed into new raw materials for industrial use all over the world.
“Where others see waste and problems, we see valuable materials and opportunities. You could call us an above-ground mine that keeps materials that are already in use in circulation together with our customers,” says Emmi Karell, Account Manager at Stena Recycling.
The waste compactor is leaving the Europress yard to be recycled in Riihimäki.
The compactor weighing around 4,500 kilograms is disassembled and processed into raw material for the steel industry.
Journey from waste management devices to recycled materials
The recycling journey begins at the Europress factory in Kerava, where waste management devices are returned to at the end of their service life. From there they are delivered to Stena Recycling in Riihimäki, where after arriving – within just one day – each device weighing around 4500 kilos is disassembled and processed into recycled raw materials for the steel industry.
Having previously been separated from the devices, the electric motors are sent for further processing to Sweden, where one of the largest recycling facilities in Northern Europe, the Stena Nordic Recycling Center, is located.
“Thanks to our advanced recycling technology, large electric motors can be 100% recycled and their circuit boards crushed for reuse in the metal industry,” says Emmi Karell.
“All the oils are emptied, processed and separated, safely and ecologically as soon as they are received, and the oils can be reused as petroleum products,” she continues.
All the components of the waste device, including cables and the steel frame, are delivered to industrial customers as new raw materials. This is a truly sustainable circular economy.
“Scrapping a waste compactor is much simpler than scrapping a car,” says Sami Sinkkonen, Branch Manager for Stena Recycling in Riihimäki.
”Thanks to our advanced recycling technology, large electric motors can be 100% recycled and their circuit boards crushed for reuse in the metal industry
All the oils are emptied, processed and separated, safely and ecologically as soon as they are received, and the oils can be reused as petroleum products.
Emmi Karell, Account Manager, Stena Recycling Oy
Designed for recycling
Europress and Stena Recycling have been working together since January 2023. Already 20 Europress waste compactors have been recycled at the Riihimäki recycling plant over the course of just a few months.
There is also a difference in products that can be scrapped for recycling.
“Scrapping a waste compactor is much simpler than scrapping a car,” says Sami Sinkkonen, Branch Manager for Stena Recycling in Riihimäki.
The design of Europress devices has been particularly praised for being easier to recycle compared to other waste management products in the industry. Components that are usually the most challenging in terms of recycling can be easily separated from Europress devices. By comparison, the hydraulic and electrical components on devices by other manufacturers, such as their valuable electric motors, are hard to access for dismantling purposes.
Companies are becoming more conscious in their choices, and recycled materials are in high demand. However, it does not make sense to transport materials around the world, increasing the environmental burden, if they can be reused locally.
The main task of our durable waste management devices during their life cycle is to take care of the recycling of waste fractions. At the end of the device’s own life cycle, it is circulated for reuse – saving virgin natural resources and the environment.
Sources:
SSAB,
