About Andrea
Dr Andrea Petrolati is a highly sought-after chemical engineer with years of experience in waste classification and assessment. As the team leader for the Planning and Permitting team, Andrea helps his clients navigate complex technical issues related to waste management. With expertise in both research and practical application, Andrea is able to identify innovative solutions for even the most challenging situations. His ability to communicate complex technical information clearly and concisely makes him an invaluable asset to any organisation looking to effectively manage their waste streams.
Notable Projects
Characterisation & Hazard Assessment
Andrea is playing a pivotal role in helping the client to assess and characterise solid residues from an energy-from-waste plant. This includes incinerator bottom ash and aggregates derived from IBA. Andrea’s knowledge in this area is essential for the client to be able to use unbound incinerator bottom ash aggregates in construction activities taking place in both England and Scotland. His work includes:
- Assessing the environmental risk from the use of IBAA in construction or land restoration on a generic as well as site-specific basis.
- Creation of sampling plans for the characterisation of the materials to determine the likely source of contamination, the size and type of the samples and the parameters tested.
- On-site material sampling requires method statements, risk assessment, and liaison with operators and/or regulatory bodies.
- Interpretation of the results and presentation in both technical or non-technical reports, depending on the target audience.
Permit compliance
Andrea supports DCS by helping them generate the evidence required to comply with their Permit. Andrea has undertaken a considerable amount of research for the air emissions and surface water discharge to discharge Permit Improvement Conditions, which the Regulator requires to operate. Andrea summarised all information from the site’s air and water monitoring to explain to the Regulator how the work done by DCS satisfies the Permit Improvement conditions and how DCS operates in compliance with the requirements of their Environmental Permit.
Incinerator Bottom Ash Aggregate
Andrea worked on a project involving the assessment of the risk to human health and the environment from applications of processed incinerator bottom ash aggregate (IBAA), using appropriate scenarios for different end uses. The results received from the laboratory were used to model the dispersion of the contaminants using Consim software. The risk assessment followed a tiered approach where in the first tier the leachate concentration was directly compared to the selected environmental standard (WHO and Groundwater Directive). The conservative approach of tier one allowed to screen all contaminants that were not of concern and focus attention on those with more potential risk.
Specialisms
| Waste Classification | Fire Prevention Plans |
| Land Quality | Environmental Permitting |
| Management Systems | Monitoring & Sampling |
Languages
| Italian Native Proficiency |
English Bilingual Proficiency |
Awards & Qualifications
| PhD in chemical engineering | Msc In Industrial Chemistry | Chartered Waste Manager |
General Experience
- Waste characterisation and hazard assessment: 9 year’s experience in the waste industry helping operators to characterise and classify waste. Specialised in the classification of intricate wastes that are heterogeneous in nature and require specialist expert knowledge.
- Appropriate characterisation of the waste enables operators to recover the value of the material by choosing the most appropriate recovery route according to the principles of the waste hierarchy. Appropriate waste classification helps operators to be compliant with the latest waste regulations and avoid Regulator’s enforcement action.
- Production of sampling plans for waste management companies for chemical and biological monitoring schemes
- Preliminary Risk Assessments and Conceptual Site Modelling for contaminated sites
- Review and statistical analysis of environmental monitoring data
- Waste recovery or disposal options appraisal.
- Implementation of chemical and biological testing from standards
- Trained in use of software for assessment of risk that is posed to groundwater by leaching contaminants.
- Implementation of quality and environmental management systems including auditing of management systems.
- Preparation of Environmental Permit Applications for waste management facilities.
- Waste characterization and hazard assessment: characterization of waste streams to support the recovery and disposal decision of the customers. Waste streams include inert components, food waste, incinerator ash, pyrolysis ash, gasification ash, RDF, SRF