Norway-based company Geminor says its first shipment of baled, refuse-derived fuel (RDF) has arrived from Germany to Sweden.
In April, a ship carrying 100 tons of baled RDF reached the Copenhagen Malmo port in Sweden. The arrival of the waste generated in Germany to the Swedish waste-to-energy SYSAV plant “constitutes a milestone for German waste export” and marks the start of a two-year 20,000-ton contract between Geminor and Germany-based pulp and paper manufacturer SCA, the company states.
The SCA-owned ferries transport paper from Sweden to Europe.
“Instead of sailing empty on the return trip, the ferries will no load sorted and baled waste fuels from German waste producers,” remarks Per Mernelius, country manager of Geminor. "We have for some time had success with shipments from the U.K. to Sweden, which is why we are hoping to increase transport from Germany in the years to come.”
Geminor says Southern Germany has a surplus of waste, but the market “lacks routine and the baling equipment to prepare the waste for transport.”
“We are at the moment assisting secondary fuel producers in the preparation process and believe that the newly established route to Sweden will encourage more German waste producers to bale waste for export,” Mernelius says.
Geminor, founded in 2004, describes itself as a leading player in the European secondary fuels market, handling more than 1.4 million metric tons of feedstock annually and holding contracts with more than 80 waste-to-energy facilities.