ECOVE Claims the World's First BS 8001 Certification, Becoming the Pioneer in Circular Economy

Since all waste today can turn into resources tomorrow, Circular Economy becomes one of the major global trends now. ECOVE Environment Corporation, facing such a new economic model and change, regards the challenge as the opportunity for business and the advancement of technology.

Apply Technical Knowhow to Advance Efficiencies in Resource Cycling

ECOVE Environment Corporation, as the industry-leading resource cycling services provider, has had more than 22 years of accumulated experiences in operations and maintenance (O&M) of Energy-from-Waste (EfW) plants and waste management businesses, offering services to two third of the 24 EfW plants in Taiwan to facilitate O&M or and implement annual equipment service and improvement and system upgrades. 

However, ECOVE experienced several crises at the initial stage. When the control system experienced a sudden failure, it is difficult to purchase original spare parts from overseas manufactures in that they were out of production, so ECOVE decided to launch its own repair and upgrade plan.

Back then, the source code for the control program was not available and the control logic diagram came from the original supplier. By integrating the trip and protection list, ECOVE generated the control logic, coded the control program accordingly and, step by step, simulated each individual function offline.  After that, ECOVE completed the system upgrade and built a localized independent capability for troubleshooting, repair and system upgrade. 

On the other hand, the refuse crane is the core unit to implement refuse reception and homogenization and ensure stable combustion. ECOVE utilized electromechanical integration technology and practical experiences to upgrade the refuse crane system in many plants. Such upgrades not only eased worries about unexpected shutdown, but also reduced spare parts costs. Moreover, ECOVE also turns the refuse crane control logic from an enclosed one into an open one, so that the stability of the plant is under complete control. Through which, ECOVE achieved complete control of equipment stability, improved operating efficiency and performance at a more reasonable cost and, at the same time, built core electromechanical capabilities from the experience of successful upgrade.

By combining data management, equipment upgrading and experiences in operation and maintenance (O&M) of EfW plants, ECOVE successively registered 24 patents in Taiwan and 11 patents in China, promoted the efficiency of resource recycling, and helped to extend the lifespan of EfW plants successfully. Furthermore, ECOVE has also expanded technical services to other industries, including O&M of station equipment and power supply system, testing track system and adjustment for the Kaohsiung MRT System.

Figure 1. ECOVE also provides technical services for mechanical, electrical and power plant equipment, mechatronic systems and equipment used in transport operations.

Improving Efficiency of Resource Cycling

With the continuous development of business , ECOVE consulted the concerns of stakeholders and the trend of sustainable development of the environment so as to develop a business model and approach for building a circular economy (see figure 2). In the three major business areas, EfW and waste management, photovoltaic plants and recycling, ECOVE is working towards improving energy efficiency.

Figure 2. Business model and approach of circular economy envisioned by ECOVE.

Obtained the World's First BS 8001 Certification Issued from BSI

The British Standards Institution (BSI) released the BS 8001:2017 Circular Economy Standards in May 2017, which mentioned six major principles and five classes of business model.

According to BSI, ECOVE’s EfW and waste management and performance improvement services is ranked Level 4 (Optimizing), the highest level for business model innovation and optimization in the BS 8001 Circular Economy Standards, and received the world's 1st verification statement (see figure 3 & 4).

Figure 3. The six principles and five business model levels of the BS 8001 Circular Economy Standards. ECOVE’s is ranked the highest level 4 for business model innovation and optimization.

Figure 4. ECOVE honored with the first BS 8001 certification for circular economy in the world.

The BS 8001 certification testifies that ECOVE has had comprehensive thinking on how to manage resources to maximize the benefits to the economy, environment and society and how to improve resource cycling efficiency. It also endorses that ECOVE’s practices align with the principles and model of circular economy. ECOVE will continue to uphold the concept of "Every Resource Counts" to provide professional resource cycling services and become the most reliable provider of industry-leading “resource cycling(TM)” services.