Did you know that these steel blocks were once hazardous waste? These are now being used as premium raw material for the steel industry worldwide! Read the story of the emergence of these Purified Metal Blocks. The result of an safe, innovative and patented process of Purified Metal Company.
The story of PMC starts a few years ago with the founders Jan Henk Wijma, Nathalie van de Poel and Bert Bult who all have a background in steel industry. After a while Jansen Recycling Group has decided to join as a shareholder and Purified Metal Company was founded. The following years can be compared to a broad journey of exploration. In collaboration with a very strong consortium of well-established partners the concept has been proved and realized. In 2018 the official assignment to build the factory has been given and the factory will become operational in July 2020.
The story of steel starts around 2011 with contaminated train scrap. This scrap could not be adequately cleaned in order to pass as clean steel and therefore had to be dumped into landfills. This is how the idea, to destroy asbestos and recycle steel by thermic heating in a hot heal of 1550 degree Celsius, came about. From various scientific studies it has become clear that all types of asbestos are being destroyed within fractions of seconds and are being converted into different components, basically silicon-oxide, magnesium-oxide and water. Components that are already present in the hot heal.
The asbestos is thus being destroyed by the process of PMC and the steel is converted into a new premium raw material. Additional benefits could be that the steel scrap doesn’t have to be cleaned in advance.
For steel factories the visual control of incoming steel scrap is very important to assess the quality of the steel scrap. However, because the incoming material of PMC is contaminated with asbestos (or other contaminants) this step is not possible. The material is double packed to prevent asbestos from being released to the environment. Another factor is that the material comes from many different sources, which makes an assessment of the chemical composition before melting impossible. Steel is being produced on the basis of a chemical analysis made by a metallurgist. This is how the idea existed to not convert the hazardous steel scrap into steel but to produce a premium raw material that can be used by steel factories worldwide and has been given the name Purified Metal Blocks.
At first the focus was on asbestos contaminated steel scrap only. In the Netherlands alone tens of thousands of tonnes asbestos contaminated steel is being cleaned or dumped into landfills. However, several other contaminations have been found in combination with steel. Examples are mercury, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) and chrome VI. These contaminations can form serious danger to humans and the environment.
The combinations of steel with hazardous substances is being found in different steel objects such as valves, trains, ships, air ventilation systems and heaters. The combination with steel and mercury is often being found in the oil and gas industry in installations like gas pipes and oil platforms.
Chrome VI has been used, for example, to produce corrosion resistance paints. In the current situation these objects are being cleaned when economically viable and furthermore being sold as raw material or end product. If it’s not possible to clean an object, the material is being dumped into landfills. This is how complete trains disappear in landfills under the ground.
Delfzijl has been chosen as location after a carefull selection process. Various locations in the Netherlands were visited and several conversations with local and regional authorities at these locations took place.
To realize the factory, different research phases have been completed. These phases have been supported by international known and leading organizations that are specialized in the field of asbestos inventory, metallurgy, waste collection and engineering.
Different proven technologies are combined such as sub-atmospheric pressure units, a steel scrap sheer, induction furnaces and casting machines. This is part of the unique and patented PMC process. Moreover, the process has been investigated technologically and proven by the University of Aachen. A world-wide recognized institute in the field of steel industry.
The factory is engineered and build by Küttner, Visser Smit Bouw en Royal HaskoningDHV. These partners guarantees the turn key delivery of the factory mid 2020.
Currently we started collecting Chromium-6 and asbestos contaminated steel. PMC offers a complete safe and affordable solution for the recycling of a.o. Chromium-6 and asbestos contaminated steelscrap. Also other polutions such as mercury, PCB’s and can be effortlessly converted into the clean premium raw material Purified Metal Blocks.
From mid 2019 we will start opening vacancies to hire new staff members for our plant. Keep following our website for new developments!