Metso’s M&J pre-shredders help to clean up 7 million tons of waste in Japan’s tsunami region
In April 2012, Metso supplied four M&J Eta®PreShred 6000 machines to Kouki Corporation in Japan to be integrated into the Ishinomaki incineration plant.
The entire plant is located on a pier in Ishinomaki and was established to clean up the area after the tsunami devastated the region on March 11, 2011. Waves surging up to a height of 30 meters and the high water level persisting for about 48 hours left approximately 25 million tons of waste along the 500 km coastline. The coastline has been divided into sections, with Ishinomaki as being the biggest one, and the Ishinomaki government now faces the difficult task to eliminate 7 million tons of waste. This particular waste contains all sorts of debris from the sea, mixed up with structural components of houses and a lot of mud.
The gigantic mass of waste of 7 million tons will be processed by four M&J Eta®PreShred 6000 machines, employing around 300 persons per shift. For comparison - an average incineration plant in the UK is handling around 650,000 tons per year with three M&J Eta®PreShred 4000 units running in two shifts. However, due to the huge amount of mud, the waste density at Ishinomaki is significantly higher than usual. In addition to the M&J Eta®PreShred 6000 units, the plant setup includes 6 feeding systems to supply the M&J Eta®PreShred 6000 machines and one excavator to even out the waste, conveyed by the feeder belt and sorting lines, on the cutting table in the hopper. 40 workers are needed for the picking line only.
Metso Japan’s Customer Support Manager, Mr. Kanno, will provide permanent support for the Ishinomaki plant for the next couple of years, while also being responsible for the other M&J 4000M units installed in the same area in Japan (Miyako and Kamaishi).
Kouki Corporation, a construction company which is offering turn-key solutions ranging from engineering to building material, is implementing the Ishinomaki project for the government. Delivered to Ishinomaki at the end of April, the M&J Eta®PreShred 6000 machines form the core of the plant and were commissioned on May 1.
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