Rethinking Waste: How Resource Recovery Can Help Build a More Sustainable Future
The way we manage waste and natural resources has to change.
Construction, infrastructure and economic growth all depend on materials extracted from the natural environment. At the same time, huge quantities of potentially valuable material are generated through construction, demolition, excavation, mining and other industries.
At RIG, we believe these two challenges are intrinsically linked.
Instead of viewing waste simply as something to dispose of, resource recovery can transform suitable waste materials into valuable products that can be used again – reducing the amount sent to landfill and helping to reduce demand for virgin natural resources.
This principle sits at the heart of RIG and our approach to sustainable waste management.
Watch our new film to discover the people, technology and ambition behind RIG.
What is sustainable waste management?
Sustainable waste management is about considering what happens to materials throughout their lifecycle – not simply what happens when they are no longer required for their original purpose.
Where possible, materials should be recovered, processed and reused rather than being unnecessarily disposed of.
For RIG, this starts with a simple idea:
When waste arrives at one of our facilities, it doesn’t necessarily represent the end of that material’s life. It can represent the beginning of another.
Using specialist processing technology and engineering expertise, RIG works with complex waste streams to recover usable materials and transform them into compliant end products.
Turning construction waste into valuable resources
Construction and demolition generate significant quantities of material, but not everything classified as waste needs to remain waste.
RIG uses technologies including crushers, screeners, wash plants and hydrocyclones to process suitable materials, remove contaminants and recover valuable fractions.
Materials entering the process can ultimately become products suitable for use within construction again.
This creates an important circular relationship:
Waste → Processing → Resource Recovery → Recycled Product → Construction
Rather than continually extracting virgin material and disposing of used material, resource recovery creates opportunities to get greater value from resources that are already available.
Why are recycled aggregates important?
Aggregates are fundamental to construction. They are used throughout the built environment, from roads and infrastructure to housing and commercial development.
Traditionally, much of this demand has been met through the extraction of virgin aggregates.
Recycled aggregates provide an alternative.
By recovering and processing suitable waste materials into high-quality recycled aggregates, RIG can help reduce reliance on virgin resources while supplying materials back into the construction industry.
There can also be carbon benefits associated with using recovered materials, particularly where they reduce the need for virgin-material extraction and associated processing and transport.
For developers, contractors and other construction businesses, considering recycled materials is therefore an increasingly important part of moving towards a more circular approach to construction.
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Tackling more complex waste streams
RIG’s work extends beyond conventional construction and demolition waste.
The business was established to develop solutions across four key areas:
- Construction and demolition waste
- Mining and metalliferous waste
- Excavation materials
- Marine dredgings
Some of these materials can contain contaminants such as hydrocarbons, heavy metals and organic material, making conventional recovery considerably more challenging.
RIG combines processing technology, engineering and research and development to investigate how these contaminants can be managed and how greater quantities of usable material can subsequently be recovered.
Developing new waste recovery technology
Research and development is an important part of RIG’s longer-term strategy.
One area currently being explored is the bioremediation of marine dredge silts.
Working with academic and innovation partners, RIG is investigating processes designed to break down hydrocarbons and sequester heavy metals within dredged materials.
The ambition is to create an alternative route for suitable dredged material: bringing it ashore for treatment, recovering usable resources and reducing the need for disposal at sea.
RIG is also researching applications for fine materials generated during soil washing.
One potential application is the production of construction bricks from recovered material, with research focused on developing a compliant and consistent product suitable for the housebuilding sector.
These projects support a much bigger RIG objective: finding economically viable uses for materials that might otherwise have limited applications or be disposed of.
Working towards zero waste to landfill
Ultimately, better resource recovery means finding productive uses for a greater proportion of every tonne processed.
RIG’s ongoing research aims to enable the business to divert more than 99% of the material it processes from landfill as new technologies and applications are developed.
Achieving that requires more than simply recycling the easy materials.
It requires engineering, science and investment to tackle the difficult fractions too.
From the South West to a global challenge
RIG is rooted in the South West, but resource depletion and waste management are global challenges.
As populations grow and infrastructure develops, demand for construction materials will continue. Finding ways to meet that demand without unnecessarily depleting finite natural resources will become increasingly important.
RIG’s ambition is therefore bigger than processing waste at individual facilities.
It is to develop innovative, economically viable waste-management and resource-recovery solutions that can ultimately be replicated at scale.
Because the future of waste management shouldn’t simply be about finding somewhere else to put waste.
It should be about finding ways to use our resources better.
Discover the RIG story
Watch Rethinking Waste: The RIG Story to meet the people behind RIG and discover the technology, research and ambition driving the business forward.
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