Chinook Sciences is a US and UK based technology company that specializes in waste to energy and metal recovery.
Patents
Chinook Sciences holds many patents for its non-incineration "ultra clean synthetic gas" technology. Which is specifically designed for energy or liquid-fuel generation. They call this technology "Active Pyro®". This is used in their proprietary and patented system, which has gone through nine design generations since the year 2000.
History
Foundation
Chinook Sciences formed in 1998. The company began as a research group led by experts in nuclear, thermal and gas processing and was supporting those industries. The company soon moved its focus on becoming a technology and equipment provider to metal, industries gasses and environmental industries.
Formation of Chinook Energy
In October 2008 Chinook Sciences announced the formation of Chinook Energy. A division that would exclusively handle their waste to energy technology application.
Announcement of Innovative Environmental Solutions UK LTD.
In March 2009 Chinook Sciences and
European Metal Recycling
European Metal Recycling is a global scrap metal company, founded in 1994 by Phillip Sheppard. In 2013, their annual pre-tax profits for the UK were £47 million. They employ around 4,000 people in over 150 locations all around the world. Christ ...
(EMR) announced a joint venture named
Innovative Environmental Solutions UK LTD. (IES), which they would claim is the “first commercial scale enterprise to generate renewable electricity and recycle metal from automobile shredder residue” (
ASR
The Asr prayer ( ar, صلاة العصر ', "afternoon prayer") is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayer). As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Asr prayer is technically the fifth prayer of the day. If counted from midnight, it is ...
).
In February 2010, EMR announced that they had secured planning permission for this plant in the UK town of Bootle in Merseyside, Liverpool.
The significance of the project was highlighted in a scoping opinion produced by the Liverpool city council, which said:
"The EMR plant currently sends some 184,000 tons of SLF to landfill annually. The construction and operation of the proposed gasification plant will remove the need for almost 90% of this disposal, and the associated traffic trips.
"This extra recycling stage will actively support EMR in meeting the requirements of the EU End-of-Life Vehicle Directive (The ELV Directive) where the ultimate goal is to reduce the amount of each ELV going to landfill to a maximum of 5%."
Second ASR to Power Plant in UK
In November 2009 documents submitted to Sandwell metropolitan borough council surfaced that revealed a proposal to build a second recycling and gasification facility in the UK. This proposed facility would be built by
European Metal Recycling
European Metal Recycling is a global scrap metal company, founded in 1994 by Phillip Sheppard. In 2013, their annual pre-tax profits for the UK were £47 million. They employ around 4,000 people in over 150 locations all around the world. Christ ...
(EMR).
The proposed facility would have the capacity to process up to 190,000 tons of waste a year, which would recover metals, plastics and aggregates. The remaining material (wood, foam and plastics) would then be treated using gasification to generate up to 30 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity. This would leave only 3% (around 5,700 tons) of the initial waste that would be sent to landfill. This would make it one of the largest facilities in the UK dealing with post-shredder residue from "end-of-life vehicles" (ELVs).
The
British Metal Recycling Association
As a trade association, the British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) represents over 300 organisations working across UK’s metal recycling sector. Its website also helps members of the public to find a local metal recycling organisation. It ...
(of which EMR is one of the largest members), called for more financial support from the government to help develop the UK's capacity to recover post-shredder residue in order to meet its ELV goals. The UK has previously fallen short of meeting the target set by the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
for reusing, recycling and recovering energy from 85% of end-of-life vehicles.
Announcement of Turkey projects
In March and April 2010 the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was the United States Government's Development finance institution until it merged with the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID ...
(OPIC) announced they had approved two loans of $30 million and $75 million for the development of two combined aluminum recycling and renewable energy plants in Turkey. The first plants goal is to deliver 60,000 tons of recycled aluminum annually in liquid form and would occupy a 6500 square-meter facility in Tekirdag, outside of Istanbul and would be operated by DT Metal Geri Kazanım Teknolojileri Sanayi ve Ticaret Şirketi. The plant became fully operational in November 2010. An additional $14 million in financial support was secured for this project in April 2010 from a UK finance firm (CHP) and the UK’s official export credit agency The second plants goal is to process up to 41,000 tons of secondary aluminum annually. The construction and operation by ST Hurda Metal Ogutme Teknolojileri Sanayi ve Ticaret AS plans to also build an associated 5.4 megawatt heat capture energy generation unit for the provision of excess power to the local electricity grid.
Office and workforce expansion in UK
The office relocation of Chinook Sciences UK headquarters was announced in October 2010. Moving to a 15,000 sq ft grade A office space in the eco-friendly Nottingham Science Park and the doubling of the workforce from 45 to 90 over the next year.
Department of Commerce appointment
In November 2010 it was announced that William Gleason, then President of
Chinook Energy
Chinook Sciences is a US and UK based technology company that specializes in waste to energy and metal recovery.
Patents
Chinook Sciences holds many patents for its non-incineration "ultra clean synthetic gas" technology. Which is specifically ...
was appointed to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s renewable Energy & Energy Advisory Committee.
Further UK expansion
February 2011 saw Chinook Sciences further expand in the UK with a substantial industrial warehouse in Lenton, Nottingham.
It was then announced in October 2011 that Chinook Sciences would expand its UK office space in Nottingham Science Park from 15,000 sq ft to 20,500 sq feet. The new space was announced to fulfil Chinook Sciences’ need to expand and upgrade the remote command and control station used to support their partner facilities.
Appointment of new CFO
Chinook Sciences announced the appointment of Harry W. Zike as Chief Financial Officer in March 2012.
Biffa bid
In August 2012 it was announced that Chinook Urban Mining Ltd, of which Chinook Sciences has a minority interest, had submitted a £520 million cash offer for
Biffa
Biffa plc is a waste management company headquartered in High Wycombe, England. It provides collection, landfill, recycling and special waste services to local authorities and industrial and commercial clients in the United Kingdom. , it was the U ...
in partnership with private equity firms including Clearbrook Capital. Chinook Urban Mining Ltd submitted a revised offer to acquire 100% of Biffa Waste Management in April 2013 with Deutsche Bank.
Appointment of new Corporate Strategy Director
In April 2013 Chinook Sciences announced the appointment of Will Temple as Corporate Strategy Director of their Energy division.
Partnership for Scottish energy from waste plant announced
The development of an energy from waste plant in North Lanarkshire, Scotland was announced in August 2013. A strategic partnership between Chinook Sciences' energy division
Chinook Energy
Chinook Sciences is a US and UK based technology company that specializes in waste to energy and metal recovery.
Patents
Chinook Sciences holds many patents for its non-incineration "ultra clean synthetic gas" technology. Which is specifically ...
and Shore Energy gained planning permission to build a plant that can process up to 160,000 tonnes of
Refuse Derived Fuel
Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) is a fuel produced from various types of waste such as municipal solid waste (MSW), industrial waste or commercial waste.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development provides a definition:
''"Selected waste ...
. This plant will be the first in a planned series of facilities as part of the joint venture, and aims to create renewable energy from biomass diverted from landfill waste.
Partnership for largest UK waste to energy plant announced
August 2013 also saw the announcement of a new partnership between Chinook Sciences and European Metal Recycling to build a waste to energy facility in Oldbury in the UK. The plant will be able to process up to 350,000 metric tons of material per year. Which would make it the largest
WTE
Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste types, waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source. WtE is a form of energy ...
plant in the UK.
· · “EMR, Chinook Sciences to Open WTE Plant in UK” recyclingtoday.com August, 2013 · ·
References
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Companies based in Nottingham
Science and technology in Nottinghamshire
Technology companies established in 1998