Innovative solutions line up at NEC

The general air of optimism marking this year's RWM Exhibition at the NEC was summed up in the post-show assessment from FAUN who said the show "was its most successful exhibition ever." The business buoyancy that marked the event was supported by the range of new products and services being launched. LAWE Editor Alexander Catto reports


FAUN used the RWM event as a platform to herald its new three year parts and labour warranty.

Prime exhibits on the waste collection vehicle manufacturer’s stand were its flagship Variopress and the rotating drum Rotopress.
Regular demonstrations of FAUN’s Sidepress X featured rapid one-man operation. The vehicle, with its sideloading, demountable refuse collection body can make short work of household waste collection on both suburban and rural rounds. Loading speed is quoted at less than eight seconds.

Also on the vehicle front, bodybuilder Aire Truck Bodies Ltd announced at the show that it had reached agreement in principle with Italian west handling specialist Scalvenzi to market the Italian company’s specialist Mediocargo MCU7500, one-man operated compact refuse collection vehicle in Britain and Ireland.

Plated for operation at 7.5 tonnes GVW, the MCU7500 has purpose designed and patented hydraulically powered, front mounted bin lifting gear that provides the vehicle with great versatility. Within a wide arc that sweeps across the front and to either side of the cab, it can pick up and return wheeled bins from and to places that larger RCVs either cannot access or reach. Bins are lifted over the cab and the refuse discharged via a hatch into the 10m3 body for later ejection into hook lift containers, static compactors or larger RCVs.

Manipulation of the lifting gear is via a joystick mounted between the seats in the cab, the bin collected/discharge/return cycle being completed in around 40 seconds.
Nick Murray, Managing Director of Aire Truck Bodies Ltd, said: “The Scalvenzi MCU7500 is a logical addition to Aire Truck Bodies’ growing “Enviro” range designed to meet local authority needs for collecting waste for recycling.”

Source separated collection vehicle

RWM also saw the launch of a new source separated collection vehicle by Automotive Technik Fabrications, the commercial body and specialist vehicle applications engineering company. The new multi-bin design for source separated kerbside recycling operations, called OSKAR (Operative Separated Kerbside Adjacent Recycling) has been streamline the operation and optimise payload, but significantly, using a 7.5 tonne gvw vehicle and only a two-person crew. The company has registered the design.

OSKAR has been developed in association with Hampshire-based recyclable materials collection operator, R J Harris Contracts Ltd, who have conducted operational trials of the first two vehicles. The company has several more of the units on order.

Terberg also displayed an innovation to consolidate waste such as plastic and glass bottles and drinks cans at the point of collection. The new equipment is the MVR (Material Volume Reducer) designed to mount on to the company’s Kerbsider ® multi-compartment, non-compacting recyclables materials collection vehicle body, either from new or as a retrofit item. It “flattens” material as it is loaded into the vehicle in a ratio up to 4:1. The MVR in powered hydraulically from the vehicle’s PTO.

Waste handling advances

A new approach to tackling the continuing problem of waste tyre disposal was unveiled in the form of Tyre Shredders UK’s TS100 shredding machine. The machine has a capability of producing one tonne of quality, wire-free chip in an hour. The single pass TS100 has four independent motors and can shred down to 20ml wire-free chip.

Also in the waste handling area, recycling and materials handling equipment specialist Blue Machinery PLC, exhibited Doppstadt shredders and a Backhus compost turner. Blue Machinery markets the complete range of Backhus equipment which includes compost and soil turners and trapezoidal turning machines using the roto-milling technique. The Backhus 1650 compost turner on the company’s stand is capable of processing a heap width of up to five metres with a heap height of up to 2.4 metres. The machine has a continuous drive speed of up to 50 metres per minute.
Titan Plastech’s MGB Waste Systems, which used the show to demonstrate the durability of wheeled bins made from recycled materials, launched an option with waste minimisation in mind to provide users with a 180 litre retrofit for 240 litre bins.

On the LINPAC Environmental stand the recycled plastics products innovator launched a dedicated plastic cup collection bin as part of the Envirobin range.
The “Envirocup” has been purpose designed for the secure and hygienic collection of paper/plastic vending cups. Six circular apertures in the Envirocup’s lid can accommodate up to 700 (70mmx100mm) empty cups stacked vertically. A reservoir in the bin’s centre has been designed to accommodate liquid waste.

Monitoring illegal trade tipping

Another innovation, a software system to control illegal trade tipping was also showcased at RWM. TIPOFF, developed by security surveillance specialist, Essa, is a management software system that incorporates automatic number plate reading technology that simply identifies frequent users to free household tipping facilities. On screen computer alerts in the gatehouse and pagers notify onsite staff to investigate suspect vehicles.

Once investigated staff are able to redirect trade waste to the weighbridge or voucher permit schemes and record additional details on the system to ensure perpetrators are identified on future visits.

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