Outstanding biomass treatment with the QZ - MeWa Recycling ...

NEWS 

March 2009 

Outstanding biomass 

treatment with the QZ 

Enables gas output 

to rise by up to 30% 

>>> Page 4 

Newsletter for customers and staff 

Topics: 

Latest: 

Granulator with new 

hydraulic pendulum pusher 

>>> Page 2 

Market & trends: 

Austria leading the way with 

refrigerator recycling 

>>> Page 6 

MeWa internal: 

MeWa continues to grow 

>>> Page 8

Latest news 

Granulator with new hydraulic 

pendulum pusher 

It’s been ten years since the 

first 1608 series MeWa Granulator 

left production to be delivered 

to Gescher in the Münsterland 

region. It proved a huge 

success and now, some 35,000 

operating hours later, the customer 

Hubert Eing Kunststoffverwertung 

GmbH has replaced 

the original with an updated 

version incorporating a hydraulic 

pendulum pusher. 

I 

t just never stops operating. With its 

low-wear blade blocks, the MeWa 

UG Universal Granulator is particu- 

Typical content: 

Mixed plastic waste 

larly used for shredding 

tyres, cables, oil 

filters, domestic, industrial 

and residential 

waste and plastics. 

This versatile 

post-disintegrator’s 

reliability is making 

it one of the 

true success stories 

in MeWa’s machine 

fleet. 

With improved 

blade geometry and 

a hydraulic pendulum 

pusher, this updated, 

state-of-the-art model can now 

process even greater throughput quantities 

compared to the original UG 1608 series. 

Advances have also been made with 

its mechanical handling. With the new hydraulic 

pusher, both pendulum and cylinder 

are external. As well as being very 

low-maintenance, this arrangement also 

prevents contamination from material residue. 

“The cutting geometry of this machine 

matches our requirements profile perfectly,“ 

says Stephan Eing, managing director 

of Hubert Eing Kunststoffverwertung 

GmbH, describing the reasons the company 

once again chose the MeWa Granulator 

for their recent replacement investment. 

The UG 1608 with hydraulic pendulum pusher. 

The family-run company ordered its first 

1608 series MeWa Granulator 10 years 

ago. Based in Gescher, the company mechanically 

treats some 40,000 tonnes of 

plastics from Dual System collection bins 

for outer packaging. The material is shredded, 

extraneous materials are separated 

and then mechanically recycled. In addition, 

the company produces around 60,000 

tonnes of derived fuels per year from processing, 

industrial and municipal waste. 

The materials are treated using flexible 

processing to ensure homogenous output 

fractions. Determining the desired particle 

size is simple using the quick-change 

perforated screen in the granulator. The 

principal customers for the refuse-derived 

fuels are from the power station, cement 

and lime industry. ■ 

Homogenous treatment for refuse 

derived fuel. 

Münsterland 

The riches of the Münsterland 

region are located amid sprawling 

green grasslands interspersed with 

woods, hedge banks and the gardens 

of old farmhouses – magnificent palaces 

and imposing castles (like Burg 

Gemen near Borken). 

The region is popular for cycling tourism. 

The region’s most attractive sights 

can be found on the “Route of 100 

palaces and castles“, a cycling route 

stretching almost 100 kilometres. 

MeWa-News March 2009

Tyre recycling plant 

in Kazakhstan taking shape 

When’s the summer going to start 

for real? This old German song 

could scarcely have expressed 

the wishes of the MeWa fitters better during 

the erection work in Kazakhstan. And 

no wonder, with minus temperature deep 

into double figures. Kazakhstan’s continental 

climate is characterised by its cold 

winters. Even in the 

factory, the thermometer 

sank to below minus 

25 degrees Celsius 

at times. 

Thick gloves, coats 

and boots were the 

order of the day. “Our saying was: just 

keep moving,“ says MeWa mechanic 

Lothar Riedel, talking about the assembly 

work during the long Kazakh 

winter. It appears the team heeded this 

advice though as the assembly quickly 

gathered pace. By now, the complete preshredder 

together with granulators and all 

the electrics are ready for commissioning 

at the site. The start of March saw the second 

part of the plant set off for the Asian 

territorial state. 

MeWa-News March 2009 

This steel structure, 

together with its 

integrated machinery, 

forms a construction kit 

which can be assembled 

piece by piece. 

Tyres shredded to granulate pass 

through an intricate purification process 

in the plant. The granulate purification 

unit, which has separation stages arranged 

on three levels, was fully preassembled beforehand 

in the new assembly hall at the 

MeWa site in Gechingen. 

Sophisticated separation 

technology separates 

fibrous materials, 

steel wire, stones 

and rubber from one 

another. At the end, 

the rubber granulate is 

99.95-weight-per-centfree 

of extraneous materials and is ready 

to be sold in various quantities. 

To ensure smooth and efficient assembly 

of the plant in Kazakhstan, it was 

loaded into standard freight containers in 

entire sections. This steel structure, together 

with its integrated machinery, forms 

a construction kit which can be assembled 

piece by piece. Delivery is expected in the 

capital Astana after Easter. By then, it will 

virtually be the start of the hot season. 

Latest news 

Autumn saw the first 

section of the new tyre 

recycling plant set off for 

Kazakhstan. The shredding 

lines were erected 

in extreme climate conditions 

and the complete 

granulate purification 

unit followed soon after. 

And during the hot continental summer 

months in Kazakhstan, the sweat will flow. 

Then, no doubt, many a fitter will be dreaming 

of ice-cold refreshments! ■ 

The pre-shredder and granulation unit have 

already arrived in Kazakhstan. 

Wrapped up warm: the MeWa team 

defy the cold.

Market & trends 

Outstanding biomass 

treatment with the QZ 

Enables gas output to rise by up to 30% 

S 

Josef Kröll has been operating a state-of-the-art 

biogas system in Zillertal, Austria since the start 

of 2008. In order to treat the bio waste, the farmer 

uses the MeWa Querstromzerspaner – with 

resounding success. 

chlitters is a family-friendly holiday 

village located at the entrance to Zillertal, 

popular with tourists above all 

because of its sunny location and magnificent 

surrounding countryside. This combination 

of agriculture, tourism and environmental 

protection 

also plays a key role in the 

state-of-the-art plant at 

Biogas Schlitters GmbH. 

In an eco-friendly process, 

the plant in Schlitters 

produces electricity, 

heat and compost from around 6,000 

tonnes of municipal bio waste, food waste 

from various tourist hotels, bed and breakfasts 

and guest houses using food which 

is out of date or frozen but still packaged 

from supermarkets and stores. 

A key role in the plant design, which 

is by Finsterwalder Umwelttechnik GmbH 

(Fitec) from Bernau in Bavaria, is played 

by a recycling technology machine: all bio 

waste initially lands in the patented MeWa 

Querstromzerspaner (QZ) for treatment. 

The machine forms an enclosed system 

and, in contrast to conventional shredding 

techniques, is fit- 

The chains of the MeWa 

Querstromzerspaner 

work like a 

mortar crushing herbs. 

ted with chains rather 

than blades too. This 

is immediately associated 

with several 

benefits. 

• Higher gas output 

Whereas machine systems with 

blades merely shred organic waste, 

the chains on the QZ work like a 

mortar crushing herbs. This process gives 

rise to a considerably larger surface area. 

In the ensuing fermentation process, a 

significantly larger contact surface is provided 

for the bacteria. The retention time 

of the biomass in the fermenter is speeded 

up and gas output is therefore increased 

significantly. 

• Optimal treatment of substrate 

The type and composition of the quantities 

delivered to Schlitters each day fluctuates. 

Operators can react to this by varying 

retention times and formulations in 

the Querstsromzerspaner. Latterly the QZ 

has even replaced the otherwise conventional 

mixer. At the end, an optimally treated 

substrate is produced. Contamination 

by odours is also reduced considerably 

due to the enclosed system. 

• Opening of packages 

The machine can also open packaged 

food, plastic bags and deep-frozen meals. 

In a subsequent separation stage, these 

packages can also be separated from organic 

substances. 


• Metal parts are no problem 

The machine is not sensitive to the metal 

parts that are also frequently found in 

bio waste. The axle of a collection barrel 

or mineral parts such as stones or concrete 

slabs are no obstacle for the QZ. Indeed 

the recycling machine was actually originally 

designed for metal compounds. 

In a last step, the substrate is homogenised 

in just one operation and treated 

making it ideal for the bacteria in the 

fermenter. “Opening packaging with the 

Querstromzerspaner replaces a biological 

pre-treatment phase which would otherwise 

have to be carried out using hydrolysis,“ 

explains plant construction engineer 

Klemens Finsterwalder. 

A separator finally separates extraneous 

materials such as bones or wooden 

pieces, metal or foil packaging. The biomass 

is then sanitised and conducted to 

the fermenter where liquid manure from 

agriculture is added. 

For plant operator, Josef Kröll, investment 

in the Querstromzerspaner has already 

paid off. In Schlitters, the expected 

increase in biogas output was taken into 

account early on at the design stage. A 

block heating station converts the output 

at the end to heat and 330 kW electrical 


The QZ 900’s treatment 

of biomass is impressive. 

energy. All that is left at the last is fermentation 

residue. 

“This not only smells more pleasant 

than liquid manure, it is better fertiliser 

too,“ explains Josef Kröll. This means the 

ecological balance in Schlitters is harmonious 

and the countryside – the most 

valuable resource in this tourism region – 

profits most. ■ 

Market & trends 

Typical content of a bio waste collection barrel. 

Input: packaged food. 

Output: perfectly treated substrate 

Plastics can be separated easily. 

System control via computer: 

Josef Kröll at his workstation.

MeWa-International 

Commissioning: Egbert Tölle, REMONDIS board; 

Michaela Hinterholzer, Austrian MP; Ernest 

Gabmann, deputy state governor; Dr Helmut 

Kolba, managing director UFH RE-cycling; Elmar 

Kniesel, MeWa assembly manager; Gerhard Jokic, 

managing director UFH RE-cycling; Juliana Günther, 

mayor of Kematen (from left to right). 

Austria leading the way with 

refrigerator recycling 

When it comes to environmental 

protection, Austria is 

considered a flagship country. 

The country’s politicians therefore 

rightly appeared proud 

at the commissioning of a 

state-of-the-art refrigerator 

recycling plant in Kematen 

near Linz in February 2009. 

W 

ith the project in Kematen 

“We are setting new standards 

for refrigerator disposal 

in Europe.“ Both Ernest Gabmann, 

deputy state governor of Lower Austria 

and Dr Leopold Zahrer from the Austrian 

Ministry for the Environment were in 

agreement on this in the speeches they 

gave on the occasion of the inauguration 

of the new plant. At the new waste 

disposal operation, up to 300,000 refrigerators 

will be treated each year and 

90 tonnes of CFCs gained. The plant’s 

operation will correspond to a saving to 

the environment of 900,000 tonnes of 

CO 2 each year. 

Use of CFCs was banned in Germany 

in 1996 when the refrigerant was 

identified as ozone depletant number 1. 

Despite this law, the number of CFC refrigerators 

still in operation throughout 

Europe is estimated at more than 200 

million. This generation of refrigerators 

is now reaching the recycling plants. 

“The plant enables CFC and pentane 

refrigerators to be processed simultaneously 

without having to be separated 

beforehand,“ explains MeWa 

managing director Helmut Oberguggen- 

berger talking about the plant’s advantages. 

Besides the extraordinarily high 

rate of CFCs regained, investors were 

impressed by the plant’s economic operation 

and results. 

With its rotating chains, the MeWa 

Querstromzerspaner (QZ) exposes the 

individual fractions from the refrigerators 

in just one processing step. In doing 

so, the QZ separates the material compounds 

of the refrigerators into iron, aluminium, 

copper and plastic. At the end, 

the secondary raw materials are fed into 

containers ready for collection as category 

1 cooling waste for sale. 

“The latest technology enables almost 

95 % of all materials from a refrigerator 

to be regained as raw materials 

for new products,“ explains Dr Helmut 


Kolba, managing director of the newly 

founded UFH Recycling GmbH based 

in Vienna. The future operating company 

is a joint venture of UFH Holding 

GmbH, the market leader among Austrian 

collection and recycling systems and 

REMONDIS, one of the world’s largest 

service providers in the area of closed 

loop recycling management. 

In an initial step, all recyclable components 

such as cables and glass deposits 

are removed. Next, environmentally 

harmful refrigerators and the compressor 

oil are drained off by specialists and 

the compressors are removed from the 

old refrigerators. The QZ 2000 thereafter 

processes around 50 to 60 refrigerators 


per hour in an insulated system. The 

shredded PUR foam is sieved off and 

free from CFC residue. Environmentally 

harmful gases are finally cooled down 

in cryogenic condensation, liquefied 

then collected in special reservoirs before 

being disposed of later. After the 

QZ, mechanical processes separate the 

iron and other metals and plastics from 

one another. 

30 employees working in three shifts 

together with state-of-the-art mechanical 

engineering ensure a high turnover 

of around 1,000 refrigerators per 

day. Therefore the entire requirements 

of the Alpine Republic are covered by 

the new plant. ■ 

MeWa-International 

Homogenous output: 

Aluminium and copper fraction. 

The MeWa team has built the refrigerator recycling system in just 

eight months’ construction time so it is ready for commissioning: 

Elmar Kniesel, Jens Holzbach, Hans-Gerd Wilke, Mustafa Smailovic, 

Daniel Treyer, Wilhelm Schöffler (from left to right). 

Degassing system Stage 1.

MeWa internal 

MeWa continues to grow 

MeWa has 35 new employees. 

The MeWa sales team. 

New faces in management 

Helmut 

Oberguggenberger 

I 

Helmut 

Wiedemann 

n line with growth, MeWA has further 

adjusted its organisational structures 

in accordance with the increased challenges 

of the market. In this context, Helmut 

Wiedemann was appointed to the 

management team at the start of 2009. 

In the future, the qualified technician 

and mechanical engineer will lead the 

The picture at MeWa’s end-of-year 

celebration for 2008 was an impressive 

one as it showed all 35 

colleagues who have joined the company 

over the last two years. 

During this period, the number of employees 

has risen by almost a third but 

this is not the only reason for the positive 

mood within the company. Despite the difficult 

economic situation generally, MeWa 

entered 2009 with a satisfying volume of 

orders and hence with great confidence. 

The key to this success is MeWa’s proven 

company together with managing partner 

Heimo Wabnig and Helmut Oberguggenberger 

and Ulrich Hink, who are also 

part of the management team. Helmut 

Wiedemann has occupied a leading role 

in the company for the past few years as 

construction design and operations manager. 

In future, the 52-year-old from Althengstetten 

will also assume the role of 

technical managing director. 

Starting from 1 January 2009, Helmut 

Oberguggenberger was awarded sole 

power of representation. This means that, 

in the future, he can represent the company 

on his own in dealings with third parties. 

Originating from Carinthia, Mr Oberguggenberger 

has been part of MeWa 

management since 2005. ■ 

quality when it comes to product, planning, 

service and consultation. 

With a view to continuing to provide 

this standard in the future, the entire 

MeWa sales met at the start of the year for a 

major conference which was used for an 

intensive exchange of experiences. ■ 

MeWa-News 

Imprint 

Publisher: 

MeWa Recycling Maschinen 

und Anlagenbau GmbH 

Gültlinger Straße 3, 75391 Gechingen 

Tel. 0049 (0)7056 925-0 

E-Mail: info@mewa-recycling.de 

Internet: www.mewa-recycling.de 

Editor: Harald Pandl 

Printing: Druckhaus Weber GmbH, 

Althengstett 

Design: MeWa together with 

Creativ-Werbung M. Dostal, Tiefenbronn 

Photo credits: MeWa, Münsterland e.V. 

Title picture: Canola field 

Publication: 4 times a year 

"Kudder" – that is what the Swabians 

call odds and ends or swept 

up dirt. All this is put in a dustbin 

("Kudderoimer"). Here we would 

like to collect anything special, 

curious or funny from the recycling 

sector. Ideas welcome. 

Rubber hands.

Outstanding biomass treatment with the QZ - MeWa Recycling ...

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