Targets and funding drive development in design

Government targets for recycling across the UK, backed by ring-fenced funding for recycling facilities and projects being initiated by local authorities, continue to drive the increasing demand for recycling plants and vehicles, both specialist and multi-purpose. In this latest review of recycling vehicles LAWE reports on innovations and developments in chassis, bodies and ancillary systems


A wide range of new solutions to recycling challenges was on show at the recent RWM 2005 exhibition from established suppliers in this field and new entrants to the UK market.

One of the leading specialists in the field, Terberg Matec UK Ltd, displayed a line-up at the NEC including the Toploader ®, a high volume, multi compartment, non compacting, body system, designed to collect partially segregated recyclable material from large wheeled bin containers at “bring” sites. Available in capacities from 15 to 32m3, with configurations of up to six compartments, depending on body size, it can be mounted on most commercial vehicle chassis between 7.5 and 26 tonnes GVW.

As the name implies, waste material in bins ranging from 140 to 1,280 litres in capacity is hoisted by means of Terberg’s own automated bin-lifters and discharged into appropriate compartments through opening doors in the roof. Body sizes up to 25m3 can be equipped with two bin-lifters, one on the nearside and / or one on the rear tailgate. Bodies more than 25m3 can have either one or two lifters on the nearside and the option of one more at the rear. These have a maximum lifting capacity restricted hydraulically to 500 kg and are operated via a pendant mounted control system allowing the operator to stand well clear.

Internal compartments are separated by adjustable doors so that capacity ratios can be varied to meet changing needs. Powered locks keep the doors and tailgate securely in place during the collection round.

Unloading Toploader® is also a straightforward affair. The tailgate is opened, the body is then tipped by means of an underbody mounted hydraulic mechanism and the required load discharged. The body is then lowered, using the “powered down”

feature, and the next internal door opened. The sequence is repeated until all fractions have been unloaded in a controlled manner.

Trend to split bodies

Terberg says that to complement the growing trend for RCVs configured with split bodies that allow segregated collection of two types of material, Terberg now supplies various binlift solutions for users’ split body RCV. Whether the split is 70:30 or 50:50, the company aims to provide an effective and reliable solution to meet individual requirements.

On the Geesink Norba stand, Terberg’s Tinium Triple multi-purpose, triple split automatic binlift was on show fitted to a Norba MF300 70:30 split hopper refuse body.

The 30% split portion is fed by a single chair lift, whilst the remaining 70% of the body is serviced by a split twin chair binlift. The split twin lift is capable of handling containers from 120 to 360 litres in automatic domestic cycle as is the single chair feeding the 30% body split.

The twin chair section of the binlift can also deal with four wheel trade containers up to 1,280 litres in its manual mode.

Terberg Matec UK also cites solutions it has developed including the delivery of Kerbsider® recyclable materials collection vehicle bodies to Powys County Council.

Mounted on DAF 55 rigid tipper chassis plated at 18 tonnes GVW, the new Kerbsider®s will play a key role in the Powys recycling initiative collecting glass, paper and light card, plastic and cans as well as green waste from householders throughout the county.

Known as the “Kerbsider® 25 S”, the purpose designed 25m3 bodies feature four dedicated compartments each fitted with a heavy duty perspex observation port to check loading progress. The front compartment is a fixed capacity and is intended to segregate glass from the rest of the materials being collected to avoid cross contamination. This discharges material from the offside via a Kerbsider® Combi-style side door and chute. The remaining three compartments are also fixed capacities but are separated by two pneumatically-locked internal doors. Being hinged at the top these are raised in turn and held in position pneumatically, rather than relying on gravity alone, and the body tipped by means of an underfloor ram to discharge material through a hydraulically-locked tailgate.

Externally, the “Kerbsider® 25 S” has two pannier type lifting “troughs” to receive materials which have been hand-sorted by operatives at the roadside.

Stillages solution

The company also solved an operational issue for a Scottish local authority. A Kerbsider®2, with a major difference, was the answer for Aberdeenshire Council for

the collection of recyclable materials from the kerbside. Throughout the largely rural area of Aberdeenshire, there are no MRFs or transfer stations for a conventional Kerbsider®2 to run into and tip. Therefore, Terberg, in conjunction with the council, has designed a body – utilising many of the tried Kerbsider®2 components – that makes use of stillages rather than internal compartments to contain collected materials. These can be handled and stored at any of a number of “satellite” depots around the county.

The “Kerbsider®2-26 Stillage”‘s lightweight non-tipping body has an open frame floor with eight purpose-made stillages which are “rack” loaded through the open offside, using a forklift truck, and pneumatically locked in position. On the lower two-thirds of the nearside a sound deadening kit is incorporated into the body, leaving the upper third open to monitor stillage loading via perspex observation ports incorporated into each of the eight stillages. A heavy duty “curtain” is fitted to the offside, producing a clean appearance and reducing internal wind turbulence.

Loading is by way of the familiar Kerbsider®2 sectioned pannier-type trough running the length of the nearside kerbside. The roof/trough is then lifted hydraulically and the material discharged into the stillages following the style of the conventional Kerbsider®2.

Each of the eight stillages has a volume of 3.25m3 making a total of 26m3. They are unloaded from the offside by a forklift truck via the lifting “slots” positioned midway down the stillage ends.

The new body for Aberdeenshire is mounted on a 5.7 metre wheelbase Mercedes Benz low-entry Econic 4 x 2 chassis plated at 18 tonnes GVW.

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