Case - Street Fuel

Waste from London supplies district heating in Västerås

Cores brought Street Fuel Ltd from the United Kingdom and EFO AB in Sweden together. Since then a ship containing 3,000 tons of RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel) leaves London every month destined for an energy recovery plant in Sweden that takes care of district heating for the city of Västerås, close to Stockholm.

Street Fuel Ltd, UK

Street Fuel Ltd is part of HTL Recycling and Waste Management Services Group, one of the largest recycling and waste management specialists in the Southeast of the UK. Paul Watkinson is the commercial manager for the HTL Group. Just like Paul Cobelens, he comes from a family run company and has been involved in waste management from a young age. They both consider excellent provision of services and close involvement to be extremely important. Maybe that is why the two companies work so well together. Paul Watkinson: "Paul Cobelens is a very helpful guy and is always at the end of the phone providing support, nothing is too much trouble for him. When we have a new client that I would like to introduce him to, he will jump on a plane the same day if necessary. It's that personal touch and willingness to help that makes the business relationship so effective, the one-to-one basis."

Finding marketing channels

Cores helps Street Fuel find channels for the deposit of RDF, the residual fraction that remains after the recycling process at the Materials Recovery Facility of Hinkcroft Transport (HTL).
Paul Cobelens: "The RDF waste comes from London. There are limited incineration facilities in the UK and existing disposal options such as landfill are very expensive and no longer sustainable. Therefore, the production of good quality RDF material for subsequent export became a very viable and favourable option, benefiting both the UK and Europe.

Everything for the best solution

The collaboration between Mårten Eriksson and Paul Cobelens goes back 3 years and is distinguished by mutual trust. Together they find the best quality and price in the market. Mårten Eriksson: "Cores provides an administrative and proactive link between the producer and the End-user. They have a good track record and experience of developing waste management. Besides, working with Cores is quite easy. Always a quick response."

EFO AB, Sweden

EFO AB is fuel procurement and transport company owned by eight Swedish energy concerns operating CHP and heating plants and one of Sweden’s biggest importers of bio-fuels. On average, they import about 750.000 tons of different types of waste from all over the world per year, all destined for the energy market. The biggest part of the bio-fuels comes from recycled material, or the residue of it. By buying in bulk, EFO AB takes advantage of economies of scale and they can make the most of the lines of transport. Mårten Eriksson is the Waste Fuel Coordinator at EFO. He is responsible for the purchase of secondary waste materials such as RDF and SRF, especially from the UK. These waste materials are shipped to Swedish installations for the production of energy and district heating.

Paul Cobelens: "The density of population in Sweden is much lower, therefore there is also less waste. Previously they imported expensive bio-fuels from Norway and Canada. Now they have changed their portfolio, switched over to waste and they are receiving money. They search worldwide for reliable parties and are watching the financial aspects very closely. We, as Cores, can help them with this. We can offer the price margin by efficiently organising the logistics as well. Overland or by ship, we will calculate everything to find the best solution."

Street Fuel Ltd & EFO AB

Cores signed a 3-year-long contract with EFO for the supply of 90.000 tons of RDF from Street Fuel. Every year 10 ships laden with a cargo of 3.000 tons of waste set off from the English capital to Scandinavia.

Street Fuel provides the material ready for transport (baled and wrapped) and Cores does the rest: the door-to-door delivery, the organisation of export permits, the registration of transport and the logistics. Paul Cobelens: "It is important to guide everything, it is all about the quality of the product and the connecting of the processes. The material that arrives in Sweden will firstly be analysed. For the energy value, but also for heavy metals and chlorine. The emission of the energy recovery facility has to meet strict requirements. Therefore we have to test well beforehand. We take care of a chemical analysis as well. The regulations for the transportation are very strict too. For example, the bales must have 6-8 layers of plastic wrap before they can be loaded at the port and during shipping."

At the MälarEnergi power plant the waste from London is firstly processed and then transformed into energy. Sweden has no extended network of natural gas, many cities have their own installations for district heating. They produce very locally and largely based on waste. That’s environmentally neutral and sustainable. In this way MälarEnergi heats up 98% of the city Västerås, near Stockholm.

At the MälarEnergi power plant the waste from London is firstly processed and then transformed into energy. Sweden has no extended network of natural gas, many cities have their own installations for district heating. They produce very locally and largely based on waste. That’s environmentally neutral and sustainable. In this way MälarEnergi heats up 98% of the city Västerås. near Stockholm.

And there's more

Street Fuel doesn't only send RDF to Sweden, but also to other countries. In France it is used as a reliable supply of a high-quality alternative fuel for a cement kiln. It is mixed with other fuels to make 'fluff' in a recycling facility and then it is injected into flames that can reach a temperature of 2.000 degrees Celsius. The very high energy value makes the RDF very suitable for this kind of combustion. Paul Watkinson: "Cores is always helping us to find new outlets for our materials, they introduce us all across Europe. Street Fuels capability to provide a good quality RDF product, coupled with Cores ability to secure effective outlets enables both companies to fulfil their business requirements."