Veolia Signs Marketing Agreement with Oklahoma Materials Recycling

Veolia ES Technical Solutions, LLC, the hazardous waste division of Veolia Environmental Services North America, and Oklahoma Materials Recycling (OMR) have signed an agreement whereby Veolia will provide up-front sales and marketing services for OMR’s catalyst recycling plant, currently under construction in Atoka, Okla. The plant is expected to be complete by the middle of 2011.

When operational, the new plant will use ACTR technology developed by Advanced Fibers and Powders and licensed by OMR.

According to OMR, the company’s approach to catalyst recycling provides a new option for the petroleum refining industry to recycle spent hydrotreating catalysts containing molybdenum.

According to a Veolia release, advantages of this new method include the following:

•    The plant produces no liquid discharges, thereby mitigating environmental issues that can be a problem for competing technologies
   
•    It minimizes the use of water in the process of producing molybdic oxide saving precious water resources.
   
•    The technology can separate tungsten from molybdenum, allowing refineries to recycle hydrotreating and hydrocracking catalysts containing both metals. Current hydrometallurgical technologies are not able to effectively process spent catalysts with both metals present.
   
Robert Lupini, managing director of OMR, says the teaming agreement will be important to the success of the plant. “We evaluated several options and believe that the marketing capabilities and experience of Veolia in the recycling of waste products as well as the handling and transport of hazardous waste will enhance our ability to fill our capacity. Veolia has an outstanding reputation in the marketplace for service and has significant sales and marketing resources available to OMR.”

“The petroleum refining industry is a key market for Veolia,” says Loren Alexander, manager of Veolia ES Technical Solutions’ global national program. “Our refining customers have indicated great interest in having more options for managing spent catalysts, and we feel OMR provides a unique technology with several advantages over the existing one. We are excited to respond to our customer requests with an improved option to meet their needs.”