Plasma waste treatment firm targets UK opportunities

London -- PyroGenesis plc, a Montreal, Canada-based supplier of plasma waste treatment technology, is to float on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Market, next month. The company said it aims to exploit “significant market opportunities for the group's plasma waste treatment systems created by increasingly powerful environmental and legislative drivers.”

Plasma is an ionised gas created by establishing an electric arc between two electrodes can generate temperatures of 5,000-10,000°C. It can treat both hazardous and non-hazardous wastes, from those with high organic content and high calorific value, to inorganic materials and a very low calorific value.

PyroGenesis offers two plasma system for converting waste into energy and non-hazardous products: the Plasma Resource Recovery System (PRRS) and the Plasma Arc Waste Destruction System (PAWDS). The former is designed to treat a range of industrial, hazardous, clinical and municipal waste streams, while the latter treats combustible waste on board ships.

According to the company, there is a substantial potential market for PRRS in the land-based waste treatment market. These systems have a capacity of around 100 tonnes/day, and are typically used for the treatment of industrial, hazardous and clinical waste.

PAWDS, meanwhile, is being targeted at the marine waste treatment market. PyroGenesis has been development partner with the US Navy in aa programme to apply plasma waste treatment systems on ships.