Enva drives forward with oil filter recycling plant

Leading recycling and resource recovery specialist, Enva, has today announced the opening of a new recycling facility for used oil filters and oily rags at its Bilsthorpe site in Nottinghamshire.

The new £2.5 million facility can process over 10,000 tonnes a year of oil filters and oily rags collected by Enva from workshops and the automotive and industrial sectors across the UK. In doing so, Enva will internalise the processing of this material maximising the volume and quality of the materials that are recovered.

Oil filters are first shredded before passing through multiple recycling technologies including two centrifuges to recover the waste oil, which then undergoes further treatment at Enva’s existing oil treatment facility also located on the site. Magnets and eddy current separators extract ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and plastics are also separated. The remaining solid material ends up as an oily cardboard fluff which is used in the production of a sustainable waste derived fuel for energy intensive industries. 

Commenting on the opening, Enva’s Specialist Waste Director, Michael Sneath, said: “This investment is a natural progression for our business enabling us to realise the environmental and commercial benefits of the material we collect from garages and workshops across the UK.  In addition to removing our dependence on third party processors, the ability to recycle this material in-house has increased our capacity, enabling us to collect more waste filters and rags from our customers. We are also very pleased to lead the way in implementing best available technology, in partnership with PRM Waste Systems, ensuring we achieve maximum recovery rates and minimise the impact of the process on the environment.” 

PRM Waste Systems, a specialist recycling equipment supplier and plant design company are behind the innovative design and installation.

PRM Waste Systems Sales Director, Mike Swarbrick, said: “We are delighted to have worked with Enva on this project, we had big ambitions to build a plant which maximised material recovery through use of the latest equipment and solutions. During the bespoke design and build process we overcame many complex design challenges, successfully innovating to achieve our end goal. One such challenge was the processing of different materials including oily rags and used filters. Our in-house design team came up with a system bypass feature which results in reduced wear for equipment while also saving a large amount of energy, therefore improving the overall efficiency of the plant. We are very proud of the system and look forward to continuing our working relationship with Enva.”

Enva’s Used Lubricating Oil (ULO) business serves over 12,000 customers across the UK and Ireland collecting over 70 million litres of ULO every year. Last year the company was awarded the contract to service 300 Halfords’ AutoCentre sites, collecting and processing a range of motoring waste, including oils. 

Enva's new recycling facility for used oil filters and oily rags, Bilsthorpe, Nottinghamshire. Innovative design and installation in partnership with PRM Waste Systems: View Video Link.