Parnaby Cyclones Enhances Skip Waste Processing at PSH Norwich
In 2025, Parnaby Cyclones installed a new skip waste washing module for PSH Environmental Ltd. Norwich, comprising a 6/30 (6’ diameter x 30’ long) Natural Medium Washer Barrel. The module was designed to wash and separate organics from inert materials within the 15–100 mm coarse fraction of skip waste, operating at a feed rate of approximately 20–25 tonnes per hour.
The client, PSH, had already installed a <15 mm skip fines washing and separation plant (15–20 TPH) supplied by Parnaby Cyclones two years earlier. That system successfully separates fine organic materials from inert fractions.
The success of the original installation prompted the owners of PSH, Nigel, Martyn and Daniel Parker to further enhance their processing capability by introducing the new washer barrel module. The objective was to upgrade the larger particle size fractions and maximise recovery of clean inert materials.
One of the immediate operational benefits was the release of two picking station operatives, allowing them to be redeployed to other duties around the site.
As with the earlier installation, Parnaby carried out float and sink testing and grading analysis prior to installation and commissioning. This work enabled the team to determine the expected yield of inert materials and evaluate the efficiency of separation between aggregates and organic waste.
Parnaby Cyclones has been designing and supplying washer barrel systems for more than 50 years, traditionally for mineral process and beneficiation applications. In recent years, however, these modules have increasingly demonstrated their effectiveness in a wide range of recycling and waste processing applications, including scrap metal shredder light fraction (SLF), MRF glass recovery, road sweepings, gully waste, and construction and demolition (C&D) materials.
Following commissioning at PSH, the washer barrel module quickly demonstrated its performance. Operating at a feed rate of 20–25 TPH, the plant achieved clean, well-separated products almost immediately.
Another advantage was the ability to integrate the new module with the site’s existing water management system. As PSH already operates a fines washing system with a fully closed-circuit effluent treatment plant, incorporating a Parnaby high-rate thickener and multi-roll belt press filter, the slurry generated by the washer barrel unit could be easily processed through the same treatment system.
Commenting on the installation, Daniel Parker said: “We are very pleased with the new washer barrel line – it’s doing exactly what we require. We can now carry out less preparation of the coarse material through our MRF, as we know the washer barrel can handle the level of organics present. It does an excellent job of separating the inert materials from the waste.
Parnaby continue to provide great support, just as they have done with the fines plant installed two years earlier.”