O.C.O secure wider range of materials for carbon capture

Permit variations allow firm to extend waste-treatment expertise to new industrial sectors in UK

O.C.O Technology, specialists in carbon capture, sustainable construction products and waste treatment, have received permit variations from the Environment Agency for each of their three operational aggregate manufacturing facilities in Avonmouth, Leeds and Brandon, Suffolk.

The formal variations now list a much wider range of residual and industrial materials for processing by Accelerated Carbonation Technology (ACT), allowing O.C.O to extend their recycling and carbon-capture expertise to new industrial sectors in the UK.

The rapid growth of the O.C.O business in the UK has historically been built on treating residues produced by the energy-from-waste sector, but advances in the firm’s research and development activity have demonstrated the ACT process is very effective at treating other materials that offer new opportunities to recycle waste typically sent to landfill.

These advances are complemented by enhancements to the process plant infrastructure that allow precise control of mix formulations. Many of these developments have originated in O.C.O’s overseas projects, which involve a wide range of novel materials and opportunities to translate the company’s world-leading expertise into large-scale carbon-capture projects.

The company is currently evaluating new materials from the motor, petrochemical, steel and power industries, which can either be processed as wastes or utilized as by-products, allowing O.C.O opportunities to further minimize the use of virgin materials in their process.

Technical director Stephen Roscoe (pictured) said: ‘This is a significant development for O.C.O in the UK. It reflects our growth as a carbon-capture business and will support our ambition to process new materials in new markets.’