Langøya Competence Hub
Through constantly new collaborations with the industry develops Langøya CompetanceHub values from the industry's residual fractions. The aim is increased recycling and better utilization of resources along the entire value chain.
"The value of, and the need for, collaboration is absolutely crucial to making progress on recycling and circular solutions. Langøya CompetenceHub systematizes and intensifies cooperation within the recycling of inorganic fractions, and looks at how we can utilize the industry's side streams and residual fractions to an even greater extent in a more sustainable way and into useful products," says head of the technology hub, process engineer Haakon Marius Vatten Rui.
Retrieves resources
The center will work with all types of inorganic fractions, with different degrees of contamination. All parts of the NOAH group are involved in the venture. This provides opportunities and synergies along value chains and side streams. "This is about resource utilization. The establishment of Langøya CompetenceHub means that we think a little differently about our customer relations. Traditionally, customers have come to us with fractions they want to get rid of in a safe way. Now they contact us when they wonder how they can get value out of their residual fractions. Together we find solutions." says CEO of NOAH Solutions Tove Stuhr Sjøblom.
Langøya CompetenceHub is a collaborative arena for recycling solutions that otherwise would have had little likelihood of being realised. Through scale and collaboration, you find together and create more than the businesses can achieve alone.
"UN Sustainable Development Goal number 17 on cooperation is the foundation we build on. The value of this center lies in NOAH's cutting-edge expertise in the safe treatment of residual fractions from industry, our partners and the specific projects we collaborate on. Here we have the opportunity to combine different residual fractions, secure them and extract resources," says Rui.
Testing facilities
Examples of projects that spring from the hub of Langøya is collaboration with Speira in Holmestrand on joint recycling from waste salts, collaboration with Hydro and Alcoa on increased recycling of cathode waste from the aluminum industry, and collaboration with a number of Danish incinerators on recycling flue gas cleaning products.
Another project that forms part of the Competence Hub is EarthresQue. Here, NOAH collaborates, among other things, to find new treatment methods for bottom ash.
"At the research center earthresQue, we work with partners Lindum, Stena Recycling, NCCE and Borregaard together with the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) to develop new treatment methods for the bottom ash that remains after waste incineration. The goal is to replace cement in concrete," says project manager from NOAH's side Inge Johansson.
NOAH already collaborates on recycling solutions with Resitec, NTNU, Boliden, University of Eindhoven, Kronos Titan, Norgips, Aaltvedt Betong, CircWtE, Tekniska Verken Linköping, NOMAS and others, as well as through the networks Norwegian Center for Circular Economy (NCCE), Eyde cluster, HydroMet , Vinnova, Bærum Ressursbank, EarthResQue and Cinderella.
In the long term, NOAH hopes that even more businesses in various parts of the value chain will engage in project collaboration and make use of the physical facilities at Langøya. There is expertise, laboratories, instruments, production lines and infrastructure to test different solutions.