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Industrial Fire Protection for the Recycling Industry

Maximum protection. Minimum disruption. Tailored to your process.

Home Industrial Fire Protection Industries Recycling Industry

Reasons, Risks, and Solutions for Waste Processors

Recycling plants operate under increasing pressure: higher material volumes, mixed input streams, and 24/7 production make modern facilities more efficient — but also more vulnerable. Hot particles, lithium batteries, and dust accumulations turn everyday operations into potential ignition sources.

Fagus‑GreCon provides proven fire protection systems engineered for the realities of industrial recycling. Our intelligent detection and extinguishing technologies identify ignition risks in milliseconds and eliminate them before a fire or explosion can occur — ensuring process continuity, employee safety, and asset protection.

Cecil McBurney

Technology and service has convinced us once again. We have a robust solution that protects our operations. The ability to visualise the system remotely has also helped us to stay connected from our control room and monitor events in real time.Group Operations Manager RiverRidge

A worrying trend that highlights the importance of fire prevention – extinguishing fires before they spread!

The most effective way to minimise fire and explosion risks is through high-performance spark detection and extinguishing systems, combined with tailored fire protection concepts for machinery and critical zones – developed and implemented by Fagus-GreCon.

> 1400

recorded fire incidents since 2014 – in Germany alone!

> 71 %

increase of battery-related fires from 2022

> 300

reported fires per year at UK

The Solution: Maximum Protection. Minimum Disruption.

In recycling plants, a single spark can trigger a chain reaction – with devastating consequences for people, processes, and profitability. That’s why fire and explosion risks must be addressed systematically and without compromise.

Fagus-GreCon provides the expertise, technology, and tailored protection concepts to do exactly that.

Why Fagus-GreCon?

  • Rapid Detection, Precise Suppression - Our systems detect ignition sources in milliseconds and extinguish them before a fire can develop – directly in the process, without delays.
  • Efficient Water Use - Our extinguishing systems are engineered to use the exact amount of water required – protecting equipment and avoiding costly downtime due to overflooding.
  • Customised Fire Protection Concepts - Every plant is different. That’s why we design each fire protection solution to match your specific setup – from layout and process flows to risk zones and equipment.

Built for Real-World Recycling Environments

  • Critical Zones Covered - Whether it’s shredders, conveyor belts, filters or silos – GreCon systems offer proven solutions for all key risk areas in the recycling process.
  • Decades of Experience - With over 50 years of cross-industry expertise, Fagus-GreCon is a trusted partner for waste processors around the world – far beyond the wood-processing sector.

The protection answer for businesses without the structural prerequisites

Across the world, recycling operators and process chains need next-generation preventive fire protection - yet often lack the buildings or on-site infrastructure required to install technology and extinguishing media in the conventional way. GreCon PROTECTOR CUBE solves this challenge in a smart, practical way: the PROTECTOR control centre comes as a plug-and-play container unit. Position it, connect it - and preventive fire protection is ready for operation.

Inside the container is the central GreCon MISSION CONTROL control unit, along with a fully operational infrastructure for plant operation. Feed-throughs and connection points for water, pipework and power are positioned to suit the project - the layout is designed to match the installation site. Extinguishing water is supplied via external tanks where required, and - depending on the design - any necessary header tanks can be integrated.

TheCube is modular in size and can even be coupled if needed. Insulation and heating allow installation in areas at risk of frost.

You provide the foundation as well as water and power connections - the CUBE delivers the rest turnkey.

Worker in blue GreCon outfit with clipboard and helmet

The fu­ture of pre­ven­ti­ve in­dus­tri­al fire pro­tec­tion

For over 50 years, we have been developing tailor-made industrial fire protection concepts for every individual challenge in industrial fire protection – reliable, practical and precisely tailored to your processes.

Trust in over 50 years of experience in more than 100 industries

Benefit from 75,000 individually tailored protection concepts and experience gained from over 200,000 protected production areas. With Fagus-GreCon, you can effectively protect your company from the devastating consequences of a fire.

Consequences of Fires and Explosions

One incident can threaten your entire operation.

In the recycling industry, fires and explosions don’t just cause isolated damage – they can endanger your entire business continuity.

  • Severe equipment damage and production downtime - Fire-related failures often lead to extended outages and costly repairs.
  • Environmental and health hazards - Fires can release harmful substances, triggering environmental penalties and health risks.
  • Reputational damage and insurance pressure - Repeated incidents raise red flags – for regulators, insurers and stakeholders alike.
  • Supply chain instability - Downtime impacts not just your site, but your partners, customers and market position.

The cost of inaction is high. Effective fire protection is not just a safety measure – it's a strategic necessity.

Municipal solid waste generation worldwide in 2020, and projections from 2030 to 2050
It is predicted that global waste generation will increase by more than 75 per cent between 2020 and 2050. This means that global waste generation would increase from 2.13 billion tonnes in 2020 to almost 3.8 billion tonnes in the latter year. Source: Statista

Hazards in the Recycling Process

Industrial fire protection starts where the risks begin.

Recycling processes are complex – and full of potential ignition sources. From mechanical size reduction to material transport and filtration, nearly every step can generate dangerous conditions.

  • Hot particles from foreign objects in shredders or granulators
  • Combustible dust clouds in filters and silos
  • Reactive materials like lithium batteries or pressurised gas canisters
  • Overheating of machinery in continuous 24/7 operations

The result? An ideal environment for fires and explosions.

These risks are not theoretical – they’re real, recurring and costly. That’s why effective fire protection is not optional, but essential.

And this is exactly where Fagus-GreCon comes in.

Keeping a constant eye on stockpile protection

Alongside the core processing steps, stockpiles are among the most high-risk fire hotspots in recycling operations. Many incidents don’t start on the process line itself, but where material is stored. Biological processes or external influences can lead to critical temperature build-ups – especially in areas that are difficult to access.

The high-resolution, thermography-based GreCon SCOUT TI monitoring system detects risk zones across up to 20 freely configurable temperature fields per camera and automatically filters out typical false alarms. When critical temperature thresholds are reached, a suppression action is triggered automatically.

In addition to conventional water or steam monitors, we also use a high-performance deluge suppression system. It distributes extinguishing water immediately and uniformly via permanently open nozzles. Unlike sprinklers, it is ideally suited to protecting large stockpiles and machinery. At the same time, it effectively binds smoke gases – providing optimum protection for personnel in an emergency.

The result is a coordinated system: precise detection and immediate intervention. For greater safety across the recycling industry.

A large slag heap on fire
Many fire incidents don’t start on the process line itself, but where material is stored. GreCon SCOUT TI detects risk zones across up to 20 freely configurable temperature fields per camera.

We look forward to hearing from you.

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