Increased focus on waste management equipment
DIFFICULT ACQUISITION Waste incinerator purchases are still hampered by frustrations such as incinerator permits
Incinerator and waste management equipment sup- plier Saubatech this year aims to place more market focus on its Macroblaze waste gas burner, flame traps and incinerators for the sewage treatment works industry, says company marketing manager Andreas Thieme.
The locally manufactured Macroblaze 300 W burner, first developed in the 1990s, burns methane gas produced at sewage works and consists of a burner head mounted on a vertical column, which protrudes upwards from a pedestal.
While the company supplies waste gas burners, flame traps and incinerators for the incineration of solid waste removed from sewage treatment plant screenings, Thieme notes, Saubatech has registered a decrease in sales, having sold only a few incinerators and waste gas burners to the sewage treatment works industry in the last few years.
“The lack of these product sales may be attributed to the ext- ended use of existing waste gas burners at these sewage treatment works, owing to increasing costs and a lack of funding to replace the equipment,” he says, adding that sewage treatment works would perhaps prefer to increase and conduct more effective maintenance on the waste gas burners and incinerators.
Further, Thieme notes a lack of demand for dewatering pre- sses in the sewage treatment industry. “These presses are used to dry the wet sewage treatment works screens that catch the solid waste.”
Meanwhile, the selling and acquiring of incinerators are still hampered by “bureaucratic red tape”, such as incinerator permits and environmental-impact assessments, he comments.
“There has been no change with regard to these challenges and the mountain is as high as it was two years ago,” Thieme says, adding that, although the company often receives inquiries about the incinerators, the high costs, paperwork and resulting frustration involved result in plans for waste management plants being shelved.
Another challenge with regard to buying incinerators is the required associated filtration units that ensure compliance with toxic gas emission laws. Thieme says these units are often also too costly for sewage treatment works and investors interested in the waste management industry.
Owing to these challenges the local industry faces, about 95% of the company’s incinerators are currently exported for use in foreign sewage treatment works and the mining industry, as well as the medical and holiday resort industries.
However, Saubatech will focus on supplying its core products, such as the incinerators, flame traps and waste gas burners, to local industry and on increasing exports to Africa, Thieme says.
“Owing to the strong export market, we aim to supply more African countries, such as Egypt, Libya and Algeria, and to increase the supply of products to about 45 countries worldwide in the next five years,” he concludes.
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