Activities
The following operations take place at Indaver’s Grimbergen site:
- Treatment of green waste to produce valuable compost with the Vlaco label
- Biomass production
- VGF waste transfer
- Domestic waste transfer
- Bulky waste transfer
Operations
Treatment of green waste to produce compost and biomass
At Indaver’s Grimbergen site, green waste (prunings, roadside grass cuttings, tree trunks, organic industrial waste and green vegetation waste from local authorities, contractors and gardeners are treated to produce biomass and compost. Some 25,000 tonnes of green waste are delivered annually, from which about half are composted. About a fifth of the incoming materials are disposed of as biomass after processing.
The green waste is shredded and turned several times, during which it undergoes an aerobic composting process. These broken down materials are then screened. The fine fraction is the compost, the coarser woody fraction is the biomass. This biomass is transported by Indaver Logistics to a biomass power station where it undergoes a thermal conversion process to generate green electricity and heat.
Any remaining components liable to cause damage (plastics, stones, metals) are removed mechanically or manually. The residual fraction, such as plastics goes to the company’s own Grate incinerator waste-to-energy power station in Doel.
The compost is used as high-quality certified compost, mainly in agriculture and horticulture in neighbouring districts.
Approval mark for compost
Indaver monitors the quality of the biowaste that comes in for treatment and leaves its sites in turn as high-quality compost. It will only allow compost to find its way into agriculture and horticulture if all strict environmental requirements are met.
Vlaco, the Flemish Compost Organisation, monitors biowaste treatment quality for OVAM, the Flemish Public Waste Agency. Companies with a Vlaco certificate are permitted to use their end product as a fertiliser or soil improver. Vlaco monitors not only the end product but also the input streams and the process itself.
Accordingly, companies producing Vlaco compost meet all the environmental requirements in VLAREMA, the Flemish legislation on materials management.
Indaver has an approval certificate for Vlaco compost.
VGF waste, household waste and bulky waste transfer
In Grimbergen, VGF waste from the surrounding districts is also transferred and transported to various composting facilities in Flanders, where it is converted into compost.
This is also where residual waste from some Flemish-Brabant households is transferred and transported to our Doel site, where it is used to generate electricity and steam in the grate incinerators.
Bulky waste from the waste collection centres in neighbouring districts is transferred in Grimbergen and transported to our Doel site, where it is used to generate electricity and steam in the fluidised bed incinerators.
Safety
At Indaver, working safely and with environmental awareness comes first. Guidelines have been drawn up for contractors, visitors, suppliers and drivers to ensure the efficient supply and removal of materials and to maintain vigilance over everyone’s safety.
Driver and supplier
Visitor
Contractor
Performance
Compost and biomass quality is constantly monitored:
- Temperature measurements during the composting process provide information on the correct progress of the composting process.
- Visual checks verify the moisture content of the screened product
- Green Composting holds a Vlaco approval certificate. An analysis must be carried out on the green compost end product at least 4 times a year in order to retain this Vlaco certificate. This is done twice a year by Vlaco itself and twice a year by the producer
- Mandatory external analyses and external inspections (Vlaco, FAVV, OVAM) ensure quality control and comprehensive supply chain monitoring of compost
Indaver is certified in accordance with ISO 9001:2015. The Grimbergen Site is also within the scope of this certification.
Community
We consider local residents and businesses in the vicinity of our facilities as our partners. We inform our neighbours about our operations through neighbourhood councils or other consultative forums. We always endeavour to limit the impact on the environment in all our operations.
Membership of Cargovil vzw, a not-for-profit association
With our Grimbergen site, we are members of the Cargovil Plus not-for-profit association. This not-for-profit association is committed to the sustainable development of the Zemst-Vilvoorde-Grimbergen enterprise zone. As members, we take part in combating litter, as well as burglary prevention, biodiversity in business parks, etc.
Odour
To counteract any odour nuisance, waste is delivered in liquid-proof vehicles and covered containers. All waste streams delivered are stored in a covered, enclosed hall. Air from the production hall, screening hall and transfer hall is extracted and channelled through the biofilter. The biofilter still removes any potential odour-generating components from the extracted air.