Eco Benefits - Sustainability in Action

The RockTron proprietary process offers the following environmental benefits:

Long term benefits to UK PLC

RockTron's remediation of fly ash at just two UK coal-fired power stations – should result in approx 50m tonnes of stored 'waste' being reutilised.
Prevention of new fly ash stockpiles arising: current long-term onsite storage of fly ash is estimated at about 1,000 acres per site.
Long-term solution for existing UK coal-fired power stations, turning waste into value added materials.
RockTron plants do not require a working coal-fired power station in order to operate. Plants can be sited wherever large stockpiles of waste fly ash are found.
Significant new environmental technology that can be applied around the world to process the useable global stockpile of fly ash, which is estimated at several billion tonnes.
Each RockTron processing plant enables significant net savings in CO₂ where Alpha and Delta products are used in OPC substitution, making our product life cycle of greater benefit to UK PLC.
The land environment is returned to a better condition than pre-RockTron times.

RockTron Process

Beneficiates pulverised fuel ash (PFA), a major waste product arising from the combustion of coal in coal-fired power stations.
Converts fly ash waste into valuable, environmentally -coherent industrial minerals and materials.
Recycles and treats both fresh and stored fly ash onsite at the power station.
Typically recycles 100% of the fly ash resulting in no waste stream from the RockTron Process.
Empties fly ash storage sites - both ash stockpiles and lagoons.
Removes the need for future fly ash waste storage - no longer any need to stockpile fly ash when a RockTron plant is on site.
Enables the power station to return their fly ash storage land environment to a better condition than pre-RockTron times - a statutory undertaking in the UK.
Is a clean and closed process.

RockTron Products

After the carbon has been extracted, all the RockTron alumino-silicate minerals produced are inert and pose no environmental threat.
Provide environmentally-coherent substitute materials and minerals for multiple industrial applications offering customers and society significant environmental savings in extraction, processing, energy consumption and GHG emissions.
Have lower CO₂ footprints than comparable minerals used in industry today

RockTron Substitution Benefits

As a cement substitute - Using RockTron Cementitious Products reduces the extraction demand for materials used in the production of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Ready-Mixed Concrete.
As a mineral filler substitute
- Using RockTron Fillers reduces the extraction demand for white mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, kaolin and talc in the production of paints, coatings, plastics, adhesives, rubber etc. Many of these white minerals are imported. Therefore, substitution by RockTron products can help reduce the environmental impact of transportation and contribute to the country's balance of payment's.
As a filtration substitute - Using RockTron's coke (coal without volatiles) can reduce the demand for energy intensive, imported coke for use in gas and water based filtration treatments for a wide range of industrial and environmental processes, reducing UK emissions even further.
As energy recovery substitute - Each RockTron plant recovers approximately 70,000 tonnes per annum of combustible coke, which would produce circa 2.5mGJ per annum of energy per annum per plant.

Environmental Benefits - Cement

Estimated CO₂ emissions from cement manufacture could be reduced by approx 455,000 tonnes per annum for every 500,000 tonnes substituted for RockTron cementitious product.
RockTron projects potential annual UK CO₂
savings to the cement industry of approximately 1,365,000 tonnes per annum by 2011-2012.
Over 25 years, substituting RockTron cementitious product for OPC, the CO₂ savings to the UK cement industry could total 34,125,000 tonnes of saved carbon dioxide emissions.

Environmental Benefits - Fillers

RockTron glass spheres offer many benefits, including superior particle shape, size and rheology characteristics, which deliver to industry significant production and efficiency advantages, in comparison to traditional minerals and all with a lower CO₂ footprint per tonne processed.

Environmental Benefits - Health

RockTron R&D has patented the use of the leading micro-biocide agent in specialist coating and flooring applications for use in NHS hospitals, operating theatres, doctors surgeries and other areas where public hygiene and risk of infection is a major concern, providing long term protection against MRSA, C Difficile and other risks to public health.
Similar applications in aircraft air filtration systems are also under development.

Specific Example: Reducing CO₂ Emissions

The manufacture of one tonne of cement produces approximately 0.89 tonnes of CO₂ (comprising 0.49t from component mineral decomposition and 0.40t from the combustion of fuel for heat generation). Manufacture of 1 tonne of cement also requires approximately 1.7 tonnes of limestone, which has be quarried, transported and milled to produce the cement clinker. Globally, approximately 1.6 billion tonnes of cement are manufactured annually, producing about 1.4 billion tonnes of CO₂, which represents more than 5% of annual man-made CO₂.
Substituting RockTron minerals for cement in ready mixed concrete can therefore have a substantial impact on the damaging emissions of CO₂ from cement production and so help to reduce the industry's impact on global warming.
These are some of the green benefits of the RockTron process that we know of so far. Once we start to see the benefits in action and trace the full life-cycle of the minerals we produce, we are confident additional environmental benefits will come to light.