Hydraulic hoses

We love a good news story. This one comes from Mark, our Inventory Specialist at our West Wind Farm in Mākara, Wellington.

We’re proud of our wind turbines. And we’re not shy to tell you how impressive we think they are. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to see one in real-life, you’ll know what we mean. They’re big pieces of kit and they require a lot of tender love and care to keep them spinning. Our wind turbine technicians, engineers and specialists work hard to keep them in tip top shape, but they require a fair few parts, all of which have a shelf life.

Hoses make the blades go round 

Hydraulic hoses to be specific. Hydraulic hoses are used in countless ways - in excavators, forklifts, or hydraulically opening doors. They’re made of fluoropolymers and silicone, elastomers, metal, and thermoplastics. Composite or laminated materials are also common, and there’s the problem - they don’t decompose in a landfill.

Each of the turbines at West Wind farm has approximately 50 hydraulic hoses. That’s a whopping 3162 hoses (4,278kg) approaching the end of their life expectancy, and not to mention the turbines at our Te Āpiti, Te Uku, and White Hill wind farms.

It’s time to stop hose-ing around

It had never sat comfortably with us, having these used hoses lying around with nowhere to go. Mark started asking about a recycling solution to solve this problem. After a few weeks of making enquiries, it became clear that there was no way to recycle hydraulic hoses in New Zealand. Deciding a more creative solution was needed, Mark contacted Macaulay Metals, a local scrap metal recycler in Wellington. Like us, they were surprised to hear that Aotearoa didn’t have an option for recycling hydraulic hoses. They agreed to jump on board and work with Meridian towards finding an environmentally friendly way to dispose of hoses.

First things first – they needed to know if the steel could be separated from inside the hose. This meant experimenting with a rasper machine, which (for those who don’t spend much time with their local scrap metal recycler) is basically a machine that crushes or grinds down various materials.

We were excited to learn that it worked! Macaulay Metals subsequently invested in a brand-spanking new Italian rasper machine that could cut the hoses into manageable lengths before grinding them into tiny pieces. Then, with magnets and a lot of shaking, the rubber is separated from the steel.

We then needed a solution to ensure the steel and rubber were going to be sustainably reused. Macaulay Metals arranged for the rubber granules to be re-manufactured into rubber matting for playgrounds in New Zealand, and for the steel to be reused by Hyundai steel in Korea.

That work has provided us with an innovative way of recycling hydraulic hoses in New Zealand. It’s a positive step for Meridian’s work towards sustainability, and for other companies who previously had no way of recycling their used hydraulic hoses.