Terrapure Environmental recently received an Environmental Leader Award for Product of the Year for its creative use of technology – the centrifuge – which provides its customers in the petrochemical and refinery sector with significant environmental and financial benefits.
The Environmental Leader program recognizes excellence in the environmental, sustainability and energy management fields. Terrapure’s use of centrifugation for waste management and volume reduction was awarded for its innovative ability to:
recover valuable resources such as raw minerals, oil and water;
reduce the volume of waste requiring disposal in landfills or by incineration; and
reduce costs and environmental impacts associated with transportation and disposal of waste.
Modern centrifuge technology is not new but Terrapure’s application in waste management is innovative and useful. Terrapure uses centrifugation to actively separate different components within a waste stream. Many of the recovered by-products from this process, such as hydrocarbons and water, can go back to customers for re-use at their facilities, encouraging a cycle of recycling and re-using.
“Traditionally, environmental companies serving the petrochemical and refineries sector prioritize transporting large volumes of waste for disposal at an incinerator or a landfill, without considering more sustainable solutions,” said Todd Smith, Vice President of Environmental Solutions for Central Canada, Terrapure Environmental. “It’s gratifying to be recognized for finding cost-effective solutions that improve operating performance and minimize environmental impact for our forward-thinking customers in the sector.”
Terrapure operates centrifuges of varying sizes that can process anywhere from 5,000 to 300,000 litres of material per hour. On average, Terrapure can reduce solid-liquid and liquid-liquid waste volumes by 65 to 85 percent, while recovering the valuable oil and water components for reuse.
While the caliber of entries was exceptionally high this year, judges agreed that Terrapure’s use of technology was particularly notable. As one judge explained, “while centrifuge technology is not a new concept, Terrapure’s application is very innovative.” For more information on the Environmental Leader Awards, visit https://www.environmentalleader.com/environmental-leader-product-project-awards-2017/.
