How a new plant is shaping Repurpose Aggregates’ future

By |  November 2, 2022
Repurpose Aggregates says its new recycling wash plant is a first of kind in the Baltimore region. Photo: P&Q Staff

Repurpose Aggregates says its new recycling wash plant is a first of kind in the Baltimore region. Photo: P&Q Staff

Repurpose Aggregates, a Harford Minerals company, was not in the wet processing business prior to 2022.

The company, however, saw an opportunity to evolve in recent years as the Baltimore market changed.

“The construction market is running out of natural reserves,” says Miguel Lambert, president of Repurpose Aggregates. “We have operated our quarry for the last 10 years, and we were getting to the point where we were not beneficially reusing the materials coming in.”

A little research on Lambert’s part and a trip to the last ConExpo-Con/Agg changed the company’s trajectory. Through his efforts, Lambert discovered CDE, a provider of wet processing equipment for quarries, mines and recycling operations.

Two and a half years after ConExpo-Con/Agg, Repurpose Aggregates commissioned a recycling wash plant from CDE that produces five primary products at a site in Joppatowne, Maryland.

“When I met the [CDE] team at ConExpo and saw the equipment, I was completely mesmerized to see what innovation they had brought into the industry,” Lambert says.

Results oriented

Darren Eastwood, business development director at CDE, says interest in recycling continues – not just here in North America, but around the world.

“People recognize that good sources of sand and aggregate are getting harder to find,” Eastwood says. “When you do find them, they’re further from the demand center. Couple that with the fact that it costs money to mine materials.”

Aggregate producers such as Repurpose Aggregates that take in construction, demolition and excavation (CD&E) waste have an opportunity to develop a brand-new revenue stream.

“From a business-case perspective, he (Lambert) can get paid to receive his feed material here,” Eastwood says. “The economics begin to stack up really nicely.”

According to Eastwood, Repurpose Aggregates accepts CD&E materials such as concrete, asphalt, dirt and heavily clay-bound materials. The company then feeds the recyclables through its wet processing system to make three stone products (Nos. 3, 8 and 57) and two sands (C33 and a residual bedding product). 

Additionally, Repurpose Aggregates removes a clay underneath a filter press that can be utilized as pond lining and landfill top cover. Ferrous metals and a very coarse oversize are removed from the processing stream, as well.

Repurpose Aggregates removes materials at the start of its wet process with a scalping screen. Photo: P&Q Staff

Repurpose Aggregates removes materials at the start of its wet process with a scalping screen. Photo: P&Q Staff

“As trucks come in and get weighed, they can dump material that is blended through the system,” Eastwood says. “That same truck can then get filled up with whatever he needs on the way out.”

As Eastwood describes, CDE can guarantee the quality of the products that emerge from its system. The company just can’t promise the volumes produced.

“Given the fact that [material] is coming from a range of sources, it’s really important that the inconsistency that comes in goes through the process in the right way,” says Eastwood, adding that the Repurpose Aggregates plant is capable of processing 250 tph. “We drive consistency in the output. That’s one of the most important things for us: An inconsistent feed material can still be turned into a consistent output. The only thing that varies is how much of that output we’re delivering.”

Kevin Yanik

About the Author:

Kevin Yanik is editor-in-chief of Pit & Quarry. He can be reached at 216-706-3724 or kyanik@northcoastmedia.net.

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