Building circular systems; Reduction of hazardous waste through efficient recycling.
Circular systems in sustainability focus on designing processes where materials are reused, recycled, and kept in circulation for a long time, reducing waste and reliance on finite natural resources.
At Powdertech, we see circular systems as creating coating solutions, minimise waste, and keep valuable materials in use for longer through efficient recycling of chemical drum containers, powder, wood, metal, and of other mixed recyclables.
At Powdertech, we are embracing and introducing measures to make our entire operation more sustainable. We have been continuously investing in waste reduction, whilst simultaneously making improvements to our recycling regime. Much of which is done by managing the reduction of hazardous waste generated.
Historically, powder coating and metal pretreatment businesses have had three such streams -
Mixed recyclables; Contaminated plastic chemical containers
Waste powder
Effluent discharge / contaminated water
Mixed recyclables
Like most businesses, Powdertech is faced with an abundance of packaging and waste streams; it is an incredibly easy option to just deal with these through general waste disposal. But that is not right. It simply does not fit with our ethos of building a sustainable, greener, less impactful business. So, we choose to take a greener and more sustainable route in support of our company's values.
Reusable cardboard boxes at Powdertech’s Bicester facility.
Our approach begins with elimination –
Can we get the product to and from the site without single-use packaging?
Next, we ask -
Can the packaging we receive be reused?
For every plastic bag, length of bubble wrap, or cardboard box received that we could repurpose to dispatch to our customers, that’s one less item of waste that could potentially fall into a landfill.
Packaging design and specification is something we also address as part of our NPI process. For example, if a customer wants parts packaged in plastic bags, what options can we recommend that meet their requirements but are not plastic? Sugar cane bags break down within weeks if they enter the landfill, and plastic remains for decades.
Chemical storage drums
At Powdertech, we aim to take accountability of the waste created from our process and invest continuously to improve recycling ability at our facility.
One significant waste stream - contaminated plastic barrels that are used to deliver our raw chemicals.
This issue is addressed via a simple principle, making the containers clean enough to be recycled. Make them small enough to store and transport, making the project economically viable and sustainable.
So far, we have earmarked space for an automated barrel decontamination station, which will form part of a circular system utilising the resources we already have without generating any further waste.
The station will triple-wash the containers using water already processed by our water treatment works. This rinse water is then captured and returned to the water treatment works for reprocessing and to prevent any release of pollution.
In combination with this, a small industrial shredder will be installed, which will minimise the footprint of the decontaminated containers, creating an efficient means to store and transport the material. From this point, it can enter the recycling sphere for a multitude of purposes.
Through implementing this process, we would increase our self-efficacy, reduce both recycling time and cost in the future. We are decontaminating storage tanks, making them non-hazardous, and by shredding them, we are ensuring that it is getting recycled efficiently. We process approximately 1000 to 1100 barrels per year.
Powder coatings are greener than you think!
Powder coating powders do not produce hazardous waste. These are dry powders and emit zero or negligible volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
The process takes place in sealed booths, and 95% of what is sprayed adheres to the metal or is collected, filtered, and reused. Any powder left over is safely disposed of as an inert powder.
Powder coating process is being carried out at Powdertech Surface Science.
At Powdertech, our powder manufacturers issue Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) which follow the International Standard ISO 14025 . EPDs from our key powder manufacturers; Sherwin Williams , TIGER, Interpon, AZKONobel
We have made our powders safe to dispose and have no halogens or heavy metals. As we have progressed from hazardous to general waste, our powder disposal is now at the stage of energy reclamation means it's at the same level as that of recycled waste.
Affluents reduction into local water networks
On-site water treatment plant at Powdertech.
Introduction of a water treatment plant within our facility is interlinked to our hazardous waste reduction measures.
Powdertech will reduce its water consumption by approximately 18000 litres of fresh water per day, our net discharge to the network will drop by approximately 85% per month, and most importantly, the concentration of contaminants within this discharge will be reduced to levels significantly lower than those which the water authority deems safe and acceptable.
This water treatment works project will help bring other tertiary benefits, such as a reduction in tanker requirements for our most contentious process chemicals, translating to overall carbon emissions, and less road traffic attributed to the business, leading to a greener and more sustainable manufacturing process.
Project investment and our sustainability champions
To address the elephant in the room, - ‘The Cost’ - no project is free, there’s always an element of finance involved. In the instance of ‘implementing sustainability within our operations’ it is through self-funding!
Although there will be a significant initial expenditure required, through the elimination of hazardous disposal, the associated costs will be repaid by roughly three to three and a half years.
The projects started in August 2024 and is getting completed by this year (2025) August, with an approx. cost of recycling around15K.
And what does this mean for Powdertech? This would mark the end of our final hazardous waste stream!
Our Operations Director Phil Tyler, Ian Manning, our Engineering Manager, and Richard Knight, our Manufacturing Engineer, are the leaders behind the execution of our hazardous waste reduction processes, setting up and for regular monitoring of these circular systems at Powdertech.
In addition to the Powdertech team, Jan Atherton has been our consultant to attain and maintain the management systems standards certifications for energy, environment, health & safety, and quality management systems. Her support in delivering pre-assessment audits and helping with corrective action plans has led us to achieve our ISO 9001 & 14001 certifications.
Jan’s expertise helped us in the successful completion of the sustainability projects at Powdertech.
The ‘Great 100’ Made in Midlands awards
‘The Great 100’ awards by Made in Midlands
At Powdertech, we are thrilled to participate in ‘The Great 100’ awards by Made in Midlands for the ‘Sustainability Champions’ category. Show your support by filling out the nominations form. And stay tuned to know more about sustainability projects at Powdertech through our ‘Sustainability Spotlight’ series.