Renewi needed to renew the sand washing line present in the Mont-Saint Guibert quarry, one of the oldest quarries in Europe, acquired by the division of the Renewi Valorization & Quarry group that deals with the production and valorization of sands for the construction and glass industries. The original washing line produced 200-250 kT/year of washed sand certified by the construction industry body BENOR. Since it was an outdated plant, work was needed to improve its production capacity and the quality of the final product.

“Renewi was looking for a cutting-edge technology to upgrade the washing plant present in the quarry and for water purification and sludge filtration “, explains Matteo Goich, CEO of Matec Industries, who adds: “Thanks to a preliminary analysis of the work and of the material to be treated, we were able to propose to the customer a winning project able to increase the quantity of material to be treated reducing waste “. For this new project, to be developed on an area of 7000m², the following design and installation lots were foreseen: Lot 1: sand washing line; Lot 2: water treatment unit and Lot 3: sludge filter press.

The new plant had to guarantee a washed sand production of 150 tons/hour; paying attention to propose a line that would consume the least possible amount of water, energy, and consumables (e.g., flocculant).

The washed sand, by removing the clay from the grains, had to comply with BENOR standards; in particular, it was necessary to reduce the presence of elements below 63μm below the 3% threshold; moreover, a minimum storage capacity of 4000m³ was required for each conveyor belt.

The customer’s expectations for the plant were many, as well as the requests that the Matec “All in one solution” system had to satisfy. First of all, Renewi needed to obtain a high-quality final product with a plant easy to use, always keeping under control the total cost of the machine and of the plant.

It needed to optimise production and maintenance time, cleaning, and repairs. “The plant is fully automated and works with productivity in mind. It has always been sized to work 10 hours a day. Maintenance can be performed during any ‘extra hours’ without having to compromise production processes,” Goich comments.

In just under two months, Matec technicians were able to install the system and train Renewi personnel, who will be able to work in a perfectly safe environment.