Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) is a fuel produced from waste that otherwise would have ended up in a landfill. It typically consists of waste plastics, paper, cardboard, timber and fabrics that cannot be recycled. SRF is produced to a range of specifications, such as moisture content, metal content, chloride content, calorific value, and chemical composition.

In 2019, Thorntons Recycling completed a €2.5m upgrade of its SRF production facility to improve the quality of material produced at its Killeen Road Facility.

The recovered fuel is used in cement kilns as a substitute for coal. For every-one tonne of SRF produced, one tonne of CO2 emissions is saved from entering our atmosphere. On average, 90,000 tonnes per annum of SRF is produced at our Killeen Road facility and on average 13,000 tonnes per annum is produced at our Ballbriggan site and used in the cement production process in Ireland.

The investment included two near-infrared (NIR) optical sorting machines in our SRF Facility on Killeen Road, Dublin 10. Both sorters were manufactured by Pellenc ST in Provence, France.

Waste is passed underneath both machines on a conveyor belt. As the material passes underneath the scanner section it uses the wavelength signature of specific plastics and metals to distinguish them from one another. In this case, PVC (chloride) and metal are detected and removed.

These two machines will improve the quality of the SRF produced at this facility, by removing Metals and PVC from this material. An upgrade to one of the two shredders in the plant was also implemented. This new machine uses less energy and is more efficient.