The Skip Magazine

EVER SEEN A SKIP TRUCK GO PADDLING? That's just one of another great bunch of stories we have for you in this month's belting issue of The Skip magazine!

This month's features include a look at the pros and cons of HIRING VS BUYING PLANT EQUIPMENT, as well as an in-depth analysis of choosing the right PLANT SYSTEMS to suit your specific operation.

Read about The Skip magazine being featured on Chris Evans' BBC Radio 2 show, a grenade being found in a skip, and why an alien took up residence in a Cardiff skip!

We also have an EXCLUSIVE not to be missed: SKIPFEST 2009 is coming, and you'll not want to miss out!

Our resident experts are here as usual, furnishing you with invaluable information from inside the industry, as well as money-saving tips for your business.

Not to mention your monthly fix of "Skip Chicks" and "Skip Hunk of The Month".

All this and more, still for an annual subscription fee of only £55 (UK) / 75 EUROS (ROI). If you're still missing out, subscribe here today. If you want to know how much The Skip magazine is enjoyed, then please see what our readers think.

A Scarborough based skip hire company, Stabler and Sons, are providing a free skip, complete with cover, to help a customer who became a victim of ‘skip jacking’.

Teresa Merron, of Esplanade, was “furious” after a bathroom suite and other items were dumped in a skip she had hired.

She had paid for the skip for two weeks whilst renovating her new flat but was unable to use it due to the amount of other people’s rubbish that mysteriously appeared.

Ms Merron, a staff nurse at Bridlington Hospital, said:

“I’m shocked when I paid for the thing and someone else is filling it. It’s inconvenient and distressing and I was so cross.”

“It’s an inconvenience as I’ve got a lot of rubble upstairs that I can’t put in my skip. I would tell other people to get a skip with covers.”

“I phoned Scarborough Council and they told me I would be prosecuted if I took anything out and dumped it on the side of the road.”

Harry Briggs, recycling development officer for Scarborough Council, said:

“If a resident employs a private contractor to help dispose of their waste then it is the resident’s responsibility to keep it secure.”

“The council, and ultimately the council tax payer, cannot be held responsible for securing private skips within the borough.”

“While we sympathise with this resident, we have limited powers, in much the same way with regards to fly-tipping on private land.”

“If, however, a skip has been placed on the public highway and is causing a defined nuisance, for example, obstruction to other road users, then action may be undertaken by the highways authority depending upon the circumstances.”

Stabler and Sons offered to provide a smaller skip, free of charge, upon collection of the original skip. They are also providing a skip cover to scupper any further skip jacking plans.

A Welsh waste disposal company has cashed in on the recent UFO sightings in Cardiff by using its own ‘Alien Life Form’ to promote its green skip hire service.

ALF Viner, of GD Environmental Services in Newport, spent two days driving across South Wales dressed as a green alien in their famous Subaru skip car (as featured on the cover of The Skip, Issue 29). Alf, who’s now being referred to as an “Alien Life Form” by colleagues, spotted the opportunity to use the recent UFO sightings in a bold attempt to bolster sales for GD’s skip hire service.

Displaying a remarkable grasp of the English language, the outer-space visitor said: “It’s been a mad few days, I came into work yesterday and they had a tub of green body paint and some sponges. I knew it was going to be a long day! But it’s all been good fun and the amount of funny looks and positive comments we have received has been well worth the effort.”

GD Environmental says it has received over a hundred calls to its office from their latest promotion with the world’s fastest skip. Marketing Manager, Gerwyn Holmes, said:
“We have drummed up a tremendous amount of publicity over the last few days. Everyone in Cardiff is gripped by the recent UFO sightings and it’s been a great opportunity for us to boost sales during difficult times with the recent
credit crunch.”

The Welsh capital’s UFO frenzy began on the 7th June when three Welsh helicopter pilots claimed to have chased a UFO across the Bristol Channel. An official enquiry from the ministry of defence has begun into these peculiar sightings.

Have you had any skip-related UFO sightings? Perhaps you’ve even got a unique skip hire promotion of your own to be proud of? You know the drill – get in touch with
The Skip and claim your rightful place among these pages. Email pr@theskip.net.

A skip hire company, operating on the Australian Gold Coast, has been told to clean up or pay up after being accused of running an illegal landfill site the size of two football pitches!

Pro Skips have been hit with an environmental protection order, by The Environmental Protection Agency, for stockpiling an alleged 50,000 tonnes of waste – as well as burying waste – at their waste transfer station on Rudman Parade industrial site in Burleigh.

Andrew Connor, an EPA spokesman, said that the company had now been given two weeks to comply with the clean-up order, or face a fine of up to $750,000 (that’s about £365,000).

Failure to act would also see the owner hit with a further fine of $150,000 (£73,000) or face a two year jail sentence.

Pro Skips hold a waste removal license which permits them to drop and collect skips at construction sites, deposit recyclable waste at a transfer station and take all non-recyclable waste at a council landfill site, paying the appropriate fee.

According to the EPA, the company is failing to meet the last of these conditions.
Mr Connor said: “All businesses must undertake responsible waste management and disposal...the EPA has an obligation to take action where companies are clearly flouting environmental laws. Inappropriate management of waste may pose a hazard to both local communities and the environment and will not be tolerated.”

The size of two football pitches, hey? Perhaps Pro Skips might like to re-locate to the UK? I can think of at least two football clubs where they’re already ‘stockpiling waste’ all over the pitch and $750,000 is just the daily wage bill...!

A man, who fell asleep in a Birmingham skip, has escaped after almost being crushed to death in the back of a bin lorry.

The unnamed man had climbed into the skip during the night in the Edgbaston Street area. He awoke only after the skip was tipped into the hydraulic crusher of the lorry.
Finding himself in complete darkness, and with the walls, floor and roof moving in, he scrambled for his mobile phone and hastily dialled 999.

“Help, help. Someone is trying to kill me, I’m being crushed,” he screamed at the emergency operator.

Police immediately set off to track down the caller who had no idea where he was.
Meanwhile, back at the Montague Street depot in Aston, refuse collectors had noticed banging noises coming from inside the crusher and had also called the police. Putting two and two together, Birmingham’s finest tracked down the lorry and brought out the fire and ambulance services.

Fire crews managed to free the man after digging around in the rotting waste. He suffered only minor injuries but was badly shocked.

Highgate Fire Station Officer, Andy Burnham, described the man as “...an extremely lucky guy.”

He continued, “The other people we can remember in incidents like this have not been quite so lucky. Most people stuck in these lorries, while they are compacting, receive very serious injuries and it’s difficult to get them out.”

The man, in his 20s and believed to be of Eastern European origin, had been in a state of panic when he made his call. Once tracked down, he was attended to by the police, two fire crews, and an ambulance.

Mr Burnham said, “We managed to reverse the crushing process back at the depot and with a bit of exploration and digging around in the rubbish, the man was
helped out.”

“I think he has certainly learnt a few new English phrases after his experience.” He added.

“Mobile phone?” You might be asking. Very high class tramps in Birmingham, or what? And what does Mr Burnham mean, “The other people we can remember in incidents like this...” How often does this sort of thing happen? More often than you might think, apparently. In the same month comes this story from Lancashire...

Another unnamed man became trapped inside a large compactor skip after climbing inside. The skip, behind Lothian house off the Preston Ring Way, was locked for the night with its visitor still inside.

Police and fire fighters were called to the scene after the man made a panicked call from his mobile phone. He was rescued at around 8:15pm, uninjured, but very shaken having spent over an hour stuck inside.

Fire crews had used metal cutting equipment normally reserved to free people from car wrecks. They had removed the skip from its cradle and forced it open to let the man out.

A fire service spokesman said, “He was very lucky the compactor was not switched on or he could have been seriously injured.”

He continued, “People should steer clear.”

Wise words, mate!

SKIPFEST, or “The 1st National Skip Hire Industry Exhibition and Conference” (that really rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it), is coming in Spring 2009.

SKIPFEST promises two days packed with talks and seminars from leading figures from within the industry on:

• The future of the industry
• How to market your skip business better
• How to use technology more effectively
• How to maximise your income from recycling
• How to reduce spiralling insurance costs

And much, much more. It also promises a large truck and plant auction, as well as featuring exhibits from your favourite advertisers in The Skip magazine of all the essential products and services your business needs to flourish and prosper.

On top of all that, there is planned a large Gala dinner promising an unforgettable night of music, comedy and, more importantly, networking opportunities.

The skip hire industry has never had it so good!

To register your interest in visiting the show, or exhibiting, go to www.SkipFest.co.uk now!

Our Skip Chick this month has many talents, which include pole dancing and rustling up fine snacks. What else do you need to know? Oh yeah, she’s also single. Basically, she’s perfect!

Q. Hi Laura, please can you tell us a little about yourself and what you do for the company?

A. I serve breakfast at Snackeads butty bar, which is in Majors Waste Transfer Station, Birkenhead.

I am 23 and single. I love going out dancing; twice a week, I go to pole dancing lessons (just for fitness).

Q. Okay, we’ll believe you! So what’s the best thing about feeding all those hard workers at Majors?

A. I like to have a crack with the lads. I also double as an agony aunt; if any of the younger men have girlfriend trouble, they come to me for advice. But the best thing of all is the fact that everybody goes away with a smile on their face.

Q. I bet they do - and not just because of the food. There’s nothing like a pole dancing Skip Chick to cheer up even the most miserable of folk! What do you like most about The Skip then, Laura?

A. The skip mag stays in the cafe and the girls compare the Hunk of the Month with the customers. As you can imagine, it boosts sales if the comparison is good.

Q. Let’s hope ‘Muff’ goes down well, then! Have you any parting words of wisdom for our readers?

A. When its cold and wet and the job’s gone to rats,
When the kids need new shoes and your all out of cash,
Don’t worry about a thing, cos everything is gonna be alright!

Thanks! And thanks for being our Skip Chick, Laura.

We’re giving £250 cash to the hottest Skip Chick of 2008, so get snapping & email your entries to pr@theskip.net

You know the increasing need to consider the environment, right? Well, it got me thinking (doesn’t happen often, but it gets me through the ad breaks when I don’t have a Pot Noodle to tend to) while we indulge in the sheer delight of all these gloriously overloaded skips, are we missing an altogether more important issue – underloaded skips?

I was on a bus into Manchester after a long lunch yesterday afternoon (I left the car at The Red Lion - for the sake of the environment, of course), when I saw a typical 8 yard builder’s skip being collected from the road outside a house refurb. From my vantage point upstairs, desperately clinging to the bars of the swaying seat in front, I was able to peer down at the contents of the skip. I was amazed - but for all the wrong reasons. Barely covering the base of the skip, I saw about a dozen broken paving slabs, a couple of paint cans, the obligatory newspaper and what looked like a discarded kebab (hence the kebab I immediately purchased when I arrived at my destination). And let’s face it, I was p***** again so there may only have been half the amount of stuff I actually thought I saw through that sweaty bus window!

My point is this; even without considering the extra cost of hiring an overly-large skip these days, it’s surely just plain wrong to go hiring a skip that ends up being barely half-filled? To get incisively environmentalist about it, there’s still the same pollution caused by the truck that drops and collects it... the same sliver of tree used for the paperwork... the same drain on the National Grid when the customer makes a brew for the driver, and so on (that’s an unwritten law, by the way, so make sure you’re getting your collection brew or you’ll just be furthering the problem by stopping off for drinks that come in disposable containers - make sure the customer understands that they are helping the environment by furnishing you with your beverage of choice).

A handful of paving slabs can cripple a car, so I’m not suggesting that a skip was unnecessary in this case, but a bit of homework and basic ‘guestimation’ would probably have saved the customer some money, and the environment some abuse.

One way of reducing this kind of wasteful, over-sized skip ordering is to provide customers with a guide to what kind of skip they should order for the job at hand - the TopSkips web site does this job very well, whilst also giving the customer some reassurance that they are dealing with a company who wants to meet their needs, rather than push the most expensive option.

Here’s another idea I had (that’s two in one month - I’ll be on “The Apprentice” soon, I reckon). It’s a bit radical as it involves people actually making contact with their neighbours, but I’ll throw it out there anyway...

It’s basically the opposite of ‘skip-jacking’ (when you hire a nice empty skip, and then find that one of your lovely neighbours plucked up the Stella-fuelled, midnight courage to fill it with their entire life’s possessions). What if there was a scheme to encourage ‘skip-sharing’? A special deal could be offered to neighbours who book a shared skip - gaining new business from people who wouldn’t consider ordering a skip for their amount of waste alone, but might take advantage of an opportunity to share the cost with a neighbour. A simple leaflet drop could inform a whole street of the opportunity to get rid of their waste at an affordable price, as well as outlining the environmental benefits of skip-sharing (not to mention the fact that it might even go some way to reviving a sense of ‘community’). Your business gets to promote its environmental commitment, skip hire becomes affordable to people who would otherwise feel out-priced, and skip-jacking/fly-tipping could even be reduced.

Is it a rubbish idea? (That’s the oldest pun in the industry, so believe me when I say it’s not intended.) Let me know what you think anyway - it could be completely unworkable as you will know better than me.

If you’ve made it this far through my ramblings, you may well be thinking “Get on with it, man, you’ve made your point!” (In fact, you’re probably thinking something far more unprintable, as even I’m thinking that!) So, not wanting to disappoint those of you who share my ultimate passion, below is an overloaded skip from Centro Waste Skip Hire in Birmingham. It reminds me of a party I went to recently, where the ‘buffet’ was basically some breadsticks and cheese straws crammed into an undersized glass (which was appropriate, as the girl who’s party it was looked surprisingly similar in her outfit - it’s okay, she’s too busy lying to her ‘friends’ on Facebook to be reading The Skip).

So, let me know your thoughts on skip-sharing, keep those overloaded gems coming, and snap any outrageously underloaded skips you pick up. I’m going to start keeping a tally of which is more rife (unless someone can suggest a better reason for my life) As usual, email pr@theskip.net or post them to - The Skip, Baxall Business Centre, Adswood Road,Stockport, SK3 8LF.

Our August Skip Hunk has been sent in by some admiring colleagues at ABL Skip Hire, in Llanelli, South Wales. Here’s what they have to say...

“Dear The Skip,

After months of browsing your magazine, we have decided that we have our very own Skip Hunk down here in South West Wales and have decided that we should share him
with everyone…

Here are some statistics on our Mr Martin Julian Evans or, as we like to call him, “MUFF”:

1. Born 30th August 1970 – now at the tender Age of 38 – don’t you agree he looks well?!

2. Martin is a fun-loving man who works hard – but plays even harder!!!

3. His hobbies include going to the gym, playing golf, and socialising around the local town of Llanelli with all his mates. Unfortunately, Martin is single at the moment and is in desperate need of a good woman… we love him in the office, he is always up for a laugh and the life and sole of the party keeping us entertained all day long.

We would be most grateful if you would give our Muff the opportunity of being Skip Hunk of the Month, as this would really make his day. He is very self conscious of his looks and we would love all the ladies who read your magazine to agree with the ABL girls...

Many Thanks,
Natalie & Anica, ABL Skip Hire”

Your wish is our command, girls! If any of you ladies out there are interested in Muff, get in touch with us at The Skip and we can pass on your details. Email pr@theskip.net

Skip hire firm director, Craig Williams, got a surprise lunchtime date with a hand grenade, which fell out of one of their skips whilst it was being emptied.

Paul Grantham, also a director at M and M Skip Hire on Baker Street, Attercliffe, Sheffield, said:

“Craig Williams spotted the grenade and recognised what it was immediately so he rang the police.”

“He picked it up and put it into an empty skip so that if it did blow up it might contain the blast.”

“At this stage we don’t know where it came from but we will be able to go through our records and work out where we picked the skip up from.”

Once on the scene, police officers called in the bomb squad, fearing that the grenade could be live.

An hundred metre safety cordon was established, which meant that the skip yard and all neighbouring businesses had to be evacuated. The Door Warehouse, Patterson Brothers Engineering, Young’s Butchers and Burnt Tree Car and Van Rental were among the other firms affected.

The grenade was eventually blown up in a controlled explosion and the investigation is continuing to discover where the extended-lunch-break-creating device came from.

Making sure you’ve got the right machine for the job can turn material that would have been sent to landfill into profit. Things like shredders, sifters, and screens all have a place in a modern recycling station. But, with some larger plant costing over £200,000 to buy, could hiring be a better option?

There are a few things to consider when deciding whether to hire or buy. Obviously, you’ll have to think about cost, but there’s also the matter of maintenance and replacing consumable parts. Does your insurance cover your new equipment? Do you need to train an operator? And what if he gets ill? Do you have enough material on a regular basis to warrant such a costly purchase?

To keep things simple, I’m using the Doppstadt AK430 high-speed shredder as an example. This large, yet highly mobile piece of machinery is very popular and capable of shredding wood and green waste to a particle size of around 40mm. With a throughput of up to 80 tons per hour, you can use this versatile machine on its own or as part of a processing line. If you’re into wood or green waste recycling, you could do a lot worse than to get hold of one of these.

HIRING
Some people hate hiring. It never feels like you ever really own the item, and it always feels second hand. But, we’re not talking about TV’s or carpet shampooers here. When it comes to heavy plant, hiring can make perfect sense. Not that it’s all clear cut:

PROS OF HIRING:
• Cheap short term solution
• Comes with its own trained operator
• Set up to your requirements
• All regular maintenance taken care of

CONS OF HIRING:
• You’ll need to stockpile material for processing
• Popular machinery needs booking in advance
• Seasonal jobs affect availability of certain plant

To get some idea of the figures involved, I spoke to Rob Symons of CRJ Services Ltd (all figures are correct at the time of writing).

“It costs about £210,000 to buy something like the AK430, which prices a lot of the smaller waste operators out of the market, so hiring is a very cost effective solution. We charge about £130 per hour to hire them and 60% - 70% of our customers hire for three or four days once a fortnight.”

Rob points out that you will need to supply your own fuel while you’re using the shredder, but you still get a lot for your money.

Interchangeable parts, such as flail tips and sizing baskets, mean that the shredder can be set up to your precise requirements. Great if you are processing something different with each use. Once delivered, the driver will stay with the shredder and be your operator. He will take care of the loading and processing of materials and will carry out daily maintenance. You just need to feed and water him, and pop him back into his little box at the end of the working day.

You will need to stockpile your material for shredding though. This isn’t always convenient in a smaller yard, so bear that in mind. But the main problem with hiring is availability. Some work is quite seasonal and demand, for certain machines, can be very high at particular times of the year. The solution is to plan ahead and book in advance. It shouldn’t be too difficult to work out how much material you can have ready during any given month. Timing and budget are the only things you need to think about.

BUYING
If you don’t like the idea of hiring, then you need to think about buying, or, as Rob calls it, “The Holy Grail.” He’s ever so dramatic but he has a point. Owning large plant outright is something that I think everyone would like if they had the money. And money is going to be the one thing you’ll need plenty of if you want to go down this road. Once again, I’m using the AK430 as the example.

PROS OF BUYING:
• Second hand prices can be quite reasonable
• Always ready for use
• Could be hired out during quiet periods

CONS OF BUYING:
• Brand new will set you back over £200,000
• You’ll need to train your own operators
• Parts need to be replaced on a regular basis
• Could increase your insurance premium or even need separate insurance
• Fuel and oil costs need to be taken into consideration
• Cost of transportation if you do decide to hire it out

The cost of a decent second hand shredder can set you back £100,000. Still expensive I grant you, but half the cost of a new one. Having your own machinery means that there is less need to stockpile material for processing as you’re good to go whenever you’re ready. And if you can blitz your pile quicker than usual, while others are struggling to find a shredder, then there is money to be made. Hiring out your equipment to other yards during their busy periods could allow you to claw back some of your running costs, especially if you already have a tractor unit for transportation, or low loader in the case of other types of machinery.

Rob again, “The AK430 needs to have its flail tips replaced around every 200 hours depending on the material you shred. It costs something like £40 - £70 to replace one unit; with 36 units that’s £2,520 to replace the lot.”

That’s not to mention regular maintenance, fuel, oil, training your operators, insurance or transportation. So, although you can probably make back some of your costs, you’ll still need plenty of cash to start with.

CONCLUSION
The choice will come down to individual requirements and finances. If you run a small to medium yard, and can get your material ready to a fairly regular schedule, then hiring is probably the way to go. It might feel like dead money, but weighed up against the ongoing costs of running your own plant, it might make more sense.

On the other hand, if you have a bigger operation and need machinery to be available at any time, then buying is a better idea. You don’t want to be hanging around waiting for a shredder, or any plant for that matter. The money spent on buying new machinery, and training people to use it safely, will be worth it in the end. And with the option to hire your equipment out during quieter periods, you could have a nice little sideline to help with the financial burden.

The type of material you process ultimately determines the type of plant system you install. Getting it wrong can have a significant effect on productivity and profitability, but getting it right can pay dividends.

The downturn in the construction industry is already having a knock on effect to the skip industry as the credit crunch bites.

As a skip yard manager, the types of material more commonly seen and prized would be aggregates, wood, metal and plastics sourced from construction, demolition and excavation contracts. As recycling has been brought to the forefront of commercial and industrial life, a number of wily entrepreneurs are diversifying into mixed recyclable collections in a bid to keep up with the changing face of waste management, and to stave off the worst effects of the economic downturn.

Separation is the key to achieving high quality, decontaminated material from recyclable collections for selling to reprocessors and this can be achieved through a variety of plant components. For the purposes of this article, I’ve split plant systems into two categories, “light” and “heavy” – heavy being the more usual systems for processing CD&E mixed waste.

“Light” Plant System Components

Comingled recyclables are becoming bigger business as more local authorities pass out bins to local residents for everything from plastic bottles to glass to green waste, but what about commercial and industrial operations? Yes, they have their waste collections, but recycling from offices and the like has been much slower to get off the ground than household recycling.

Andrew Mills, of Ken Mills Engineering, has already seen this coming: “We’re finding more and more companies are looking to diversify into comingled processing and we have set up a number of plants to do just that in traditional skip yards. With the credit crunch biting the industry’s usual customer base so hard we believe more companies will look to process mixed recyclables from commercial and industrial contracts over the next 6-12 months.”

But only with the right machinery! Setting up comingled recycling collection services for local businesses can provide valuable streams of material, but the recycling streams must be separated to ensure maximum payout on material going to reprocessors.

Initial Separation

Ballistic separators, disc and ‘V’ screens do essentially the same job, splitting recycling streams into flat, 2D materials (paper and card) and rolling or 3D materials (plastic bottles, cans, etc). Used front end to begin the separation process they each have advantages depending on the size of your yard, incoming material and budget.
Disc screens sort material by shape and size and are very efficient separating card from other materials. Generally more suited to be further down the processing line, they can be used as an initial separator but can have problems sorting flattened plastic bottles from flat paper and card.

The ‘V’ screen has a smaller footprint and, according to Andrew, a capacity up to around 20TPH. Essentially a disc screen bent in the middle to form the unusual V, shape the quality of separation can be easily controlled by the touch of a button adjusting the angle of the machine and discs and the speed of the discs. However, long materials, such as film, cables, etc, can get wrapped around the disc shafts requiring more daily maintenance.

Ballistic separators have the same ability to fine tune the separation process but a larger footprint, although fines are removed through the perforated deck. Materials are sorted by shape and weight with heavier 3D material moving down the paddles of the machine and the lighter, flatter material moving up. Capacity can be increased with multiple decks which also gives a cleaner separation of material. Ballistic separators can be more costly than ‘V’ screens but, with less moving parts, maintenance time and costs are lower.

Trommels separate by size alone and are more common in “heavy” applications involving construction, demolition and excavated material. The rugged build of a trommel makes them more suited to heavier applications of mixed waste rather than comingled recyclables.

Down The Line

Further down the processing line, components could include the more usual overband magnets and eddy current magnets for ferrous and non-ferrous metal recovery. Other types of material can be separated into even finer recycling streams with the use of optical sorting technology, which can be quicker and more accurate than using pickers at a picking station.

Optical sorters using Near Infra Red (NIR) can be configured to separate plastics by polymer or by colour. I’ve seen these in action and the speed the material flows through the system and gets sorted is phenomenal. Separating up to three different fractions at a time is a breeze. More recently MIR (Mid Infra Red) technology has been used to analyse types of paper and card separating them into their various streams based on their grammage.

Even on a “light” system, pickers may be needed; either at the front end, to remove large contaminants, or at the back end, to make sure all contaminants are removed. But the more advanced technology gets, the less picking stations and associated staffing costs will be necessary.

“Heavy” Plant System Components

Processing mixed skip waste and CD&E waste can see a huge variety of materials going through your system. The initial separation of large contaminants, previously carried out by staff on the floor, can be carried out by machinery designed specifically for this purpose.

Already seen in many skip and waste processing organisations, trommels and finger screens help to prevent the need for these “ground teams” – increasing your Health & Safety credentials and saving money in terms of staffing costs. The rugged construction of these front end machines helps them stand up to the inevitable wear and tear of highly abrasive material like CD&E waste.

Mixed waste, or CD&E waste, enters the system via the trommel or fingerscreen; both machines sort by size alone, useful for removing fines before the main part of the separation process. Air separators remove the bulk of lighter material, paper, etc, and overband magnets recover ferrous metals.

The main bulk of the separating process really lies with the picking station. Pickers remove materials from the conveyor belt for further recovery, such as wood, plastics, etc. It can be useful to have another air separator at the end of the picking conveyor removing those last bits of light material before the cleaned hardcore exits the system.
Whether you’re going for a light system or a heavy system totally depends on the material you are processing. It’s no good putting in a disc screen at the front end of a plant system that is going to be processing CD&E waste – it just wouldn’t work. As commercial and industrial organisations look more closely at their social responsibility to recycle more of their waste, it’s a fairly safe bet that many skip companies can jump on the recyclable band wagon and benefit from providing a recyclable collection service.

Last month we looked at part of Defra’s second consultation on the controls on the handling, transfer and transport of waste, in the form of The Waste Controls (England and Wales) Regulations 2009 which are tabled to come into force in April 2009. So what, if anything, will change in the improperly completed world of waste transfer notes?

Transfer notes will have to include the following information:

1. Identify the waste by reference to the codes in the List of Wastes (England) Regulations 2005 and the List of Wastes (Wales) Regulations 2005.

2. Provide a description of the waste.

3. State its quantity and whether it is loose or in a container and, if in a container, the kind of container.

4. The time and place of transfer.

5. State whether the transferor or transferee are the producer or transporter of the waste, a local authority, a holder of an environmental permit (including the permit number) or an exempt person, a registered carrier or broker (including the registration number).

So what has changed on the transfer note? In effect, nothing!

Record keeping is unchanged as notes must still be held for two years. The major change is the new requirement to produce it to an officer of the Environment Agency on demand within 7 days, without a notice. The provision for a notice having gone with the revocation of the 1991 Regulations.

On the face of it this does appear harsh, but if the Environment Agency will have a duty under the new regulations to make appropriate periodic inspections of all registered carriers, dealers and brokers then they should be able to reasonably request transfer notes without having to resort to notices. My only concern is that it takes effort to draft a notice and get it signed whereas a blanket approach such as this is open to abuse by over zealous officers. Increasing use of computerised records will make compliance easier for larger firms but smaller outfits need to make better use of 12 month notes and improve their records or face more detailed inspections. The proposal for the requirement to produce a transfer note in 24 hours has been dropped.
There is already provision in existing environmental legislation for fixed penalty notices for failure to comply with the law and the consultation document asks whether or not the same would be appropriate for the duty of care and carrier registration systems, as well as increasing the fine in the Magistrates Court from £5,000 to
£10,000. This would relate to specific offences and would not preclude penalties under other environmental legislation.

The document also asks the nonsensical question as to whether SIC codes should be placed on transfer notes. As thousands of companies do not have the correct SIC code against their companies house registration, how can we expect waste producers to give carriers the correct information, thereby placing another burden on the carrier.

In summary there appears to be little to worry about, from a transfer note perspective, but it is worth having a look at the consultation document, which an be viewed at :
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/waste-controls/index.htm.

As stated last month the new regulations themselves are not very detailed and much will be left to guidance, which can be revised more easily than the legislation. I will be making a response shortly but if you want to reply in person the address to do so is:

By email:
flytipping@defra.gsi.gov.uk (England)
LEQ@Wales.gsi.gov.uk (Wales)
By post:
Waste Controls Consultation Responses, Defra, Area 6D, Ergon House, C/o Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR
Local Environmental Quality: Waste Controls Consultation Responses, Welsh Assembly Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3NQ

Responses to the consultation should be sent by 8 September 2008. If you have any comments to add please feel free to e-mail me or respond directly.

Marco Muia BSc (Hons) MSc MCIWM is the Director of Oaktree Environmental Limited. He specialises in all aspects of waste planning and regulation consultancy. He also holds the level 4 COTCs for Hazardous Waste Treatment and Transfer. You can contact Marco on 01606 558833 if you have any questions about this article or you can e-mail him at: enviroman@theskip.net

By Nigel Mair

In this month’s article I thought that I would point you in the direction of free information that you can access on H&S. There is a lot of information “out there”, some of it good, whilst others are of more dubious reliability. I have therefore tried to concentrate on the sources that are the most trustworthy.

Starting from the top, I would certainly recommend that you have a look at the HSE website (www.hse.gov.uk). This has a great deal of useful information and I would consider it to be very user friendly. If you go onto the home page, then there is a “publications” link which takes you to a number of free and pay for documents. Some are even available in other languages and can also be downloaded as “talking leaflets”.

I have mentioned in previous articles the appalling H&S performance of the waste industry and the HSE website has a link through to specific information on the sector. This has a wide range of very useful and readable information and guidance documents that should really be part of your work “library”.

Whilst the HSE should certainly be your first port of call, there are other useful sources of H&S information that you could also consider having a look at. For example, the CIWM website (www.ciwm.co.uk) has some H&S documents, such as a major Scoping Study, although you may not find it as comprehensive, or user friendly as the HSE site.
Finally, the Business Links website (www.businesslink.gov.uk) also has some handy links that may help you to find the answers you are looking for.

I know that we are all busy and reading through documents may not be uppermost in your list of priorities at work, but do remember that ignorance is not a defence and it is essential that you have all the tools you need to hand in order to run your business effectively, with this most definitely including information on H&S.

Nigel Mair is a WAMITAB assessor and verifier and runs the North West Regional Assessment Centre, delivering WAMITAB qualifications and other H&S, waste and
environmental training.

TIP 1. GRAB THOSE FREEBIES

This month’s top tip is along the same lines as those mentioned by Nigel in his H&S section. You don’t get much for nothing these days, so I would always suggest you take advantage of freebies where they exist and are real!

I am actually working on a number of projects where you can also get free training. This is a great opportunity for you and your staff, so don’t miss out. The training can help to make your staff more competent at their jobs, which should reduce accidents, improve efficiency and might even help you to access cheaper insurance premiums - a real ‘win win’ situation. If you are interested in finding out more, then contact me.

TIP 2. PVC FLOORING

Do you have a flooring contractor tipping in your transfer station?
Axion Recycling Ltd will collect in bulk bags free of charge. Just call Jane Gardner on 0161 426 7731, or check out www.axionrecycling.com.

CERTIFIABLE

No, The Guru hasn’t finally been carted away by the men in white coats! Through Environmental Leadership Ltd, Roger has delivered NVQ level 2 training in Waste Management Operations for all the Blakeley’s Drivers.

“Continuous training and development of our staff is a key aspect of the company’s development strategy, The NVQ training allowed us to train remote workers whilst continuing with our day-to-day business. The drivers really enjoyed the experience and it has definitely raised their awareness of Quality and Health and Safety issues.” Said Graeme Knight, General Manager.

New equipment from CDP Plant Ltd has enabled AWR Rent a Skip to double its waste transfer throughput.

The decision to invest in a new automated screening machine and integrated waste picking line transformed AWR Rent a Skip business operations and solved inherent problems associated with bottlenecking of vehicles that was increasingly restricting business growth plans.

Following the decision to purchase the purpose designed 512 McCloskey Trommel Screener and integrated picking station from CDP Plant Ltd. T/A McCloskey Central, AWR Rent a Skip is now reaping the benefits of increased throughput, higher recycling rates, safer and better working conditions and streamlined operations that ensure bottlenecking is no longer a problem.

The single access yard is now cleaner, greener and more efficient than before with dedicated tipping zones, collection bays and fast and co-ordinated picking of waste. All of which means the company is now able to handle almost double the number of skips each day and has increased recycling rates from 70 percent to 85-90+ percent.
The CDP Plant system demonstrates how investment in the right equipment, through a knowledgeable and experienced supplier can help waste handlers move their business to the next level, efficiently and cost effectively.

“Without this new equipment we certainly could not have handled this volume of waste on our relatively small site. Not only has it enabled us to handle the business we already had in a more efficient way, but it has also been key to us securing new contracts too.” Explains Mark Rogers, Managing Director, AWR Rent a Skip.
Installed less than a year ago after lengthy discussions with specialist mobile screening equipment and waste recycling plant supplier, CDP Plant Ltd., the new 512 Trommel replaces a compact, McCloskey Minisizer, now unable to cope with the escalating waste throughput at the Bolton site. The integrated picking station was purpose designed in conjunction with the trommel to create a site specific, bespoke waste transfer solution for AWR Rent a Skip.

The unique design of the equipment takes into account the slope of the yard and its relatively small floor space with the picking station raised off the ground to allow material to drop into segregation bays below. The trommel has also been raised off the floor to allow fines less than 35mm to drop through the trommel mesh into a collection bin below. The raised position of the trommel screener facilitates smooth conveyor feed to the picking station which, because of space restrictions, is sited at right angles rather than a more traditional ‘in-line’ configuration.

“Because of CDP Plant’s experience and expertise in this field we have been able to create for AWR Rent a Skip a bespoke waste transfer solution using standard equipment. The layout of the equipment and the yard has brought in a greater degree of organisation and has given AWR probably the equivalent of three times the workable yard space they had before. This has obvious cost benefits for the customer and meets the company’s exacting needs in the most efficient manner.” Says Sean Lynn of CDP Plant Ltd.T/A McCloskey Central.

Skips now enter the yard and are tipped and inspected to check there is no hazardous waste. The waste is then loaded by crane into the McCloskey 512 Trommel Screener. Smaller size fractions (soil, brick bits, stones) fall through into the collection area beneath the screener mesh. The rest is fed by conveyor to the picking station where it is hand picked into wood, paper and cardboard, plastics and metal fractions which are dropped into the appropriate bays below. With six men in the picking shed, AWR now have more efficient recycling of waste and find that recyclates are kept cleaner and, with more pristine materials, have also reduced the amount of unrecoverable waste sent to landfill.

Previously, skip loads were tipped on the floor of the yard and hand picked with the separated waste bucketed to the individual bays. This was particularly slow as incoming skips could not be unloaded until the previous load had been removed. With heavy incoming traffic, internal traffic and waste removal traffic, moving around the site was both potentially hazardous and difficult.

“We could not be happier with the new equipment and the way CDP Plant have worked with us to achieve the changes we have made to the business. In terms of the cost of the investment we can readily see that it will pay for itself in a couple more years. We no longer need to have staff in the yard from 6am to 6pm as we can process the incoming waste so much more quickly even though we are now handling unprecedented volumes of waste.

“The addition of the picking station means we are also benefiting from high recycling rates and low landfill requirements, which puts AWR in a win win situation. Finally our customers can also see our investment in recycling and this in itself attracts new and additional business from environmentally aware companies keen to employ good recycling practises.

“We have a good working relationship with the guys from CDP Plant, they give us a good back up service too, with routine maintenance completed quickly and often out of hours which means we do not need to shut the yard. I would certainly recommend them.” confirms Mark Rogers.

If you’re going to be attacked by a beast, it’s not going to be much comfort to discover that it’s a mini version when it’s still capable of tearing apart most things in it’s path. This is certainly true of the recently launched ‘Bandit Mini 1680 Beast’ from Global Recycling.

The machine is a smaller version of the already well established 3680 Beast, which has always been known in the waste industry for its high outputs, low running costs and reliability. The 1680 encompasses all of these qualities and has a HP ranging up to 275HP.

It is fitted with a steel in-feed bed and easy slide in screen changes, which are fast and efficient, enabling you to produce a size to meet your exact requirements.

The throughputs can range up to as high as 24 tons per hour. The head is fitted with
bolt-in cutter bodies and teeth, enabling you to change the set up according to the material being processed.

The versatility of the machine enables a quick and easy tooth change from green waste/wood waste shredding teeth to knives, enabling the machine to produce an even chip in one pass. The chip meets the P30 and P50 European bio-fuel standards.

The HP ranges from 200-275HP and has a range of options, i.e. magnetic head roller, remote control and it can also be fitted on tracks.

Four of these units have been sold since it was launched in March, with the first unit being delivered in July to South Wales.

For further information, please call 0844 560 7706 and quote “Mini Beast TS37”.

Time was of the essence when Taunton based Westco Bilanciai were asked to replace an aging mechanical 5107 Avery pit weighbridge operated by Devon Waste Management Ltd (DWML) at their Exeter Waste Transfer Station.

DWML provides key waste management services to both the private and public sector within the region. Originally a local authority waste disposal company, DWML was
incorporated in 1991 and sold to the private sector in December 2003. The weighbridge at the Exeter transfer station is used to weigh incoming Exeter City Council refuse vehicles and outgoing Viridor operated vehicles taking waste to landfill and recycling.

Although the mechanical weighbridge had given good service over the years, a routine check by Trading Standards revealed that wear in critical mechanical parts had caused
it to go out of calibration, resulting in an immediate suspension of the legal for trade certification.

Westco Bilanciai had serviced the weighbridge for a number of years and they advised DWML that although they had the skills to carry out the repairs to bring the scale back within calibration, this would be relatively expensive and the long term prognosis for the mechanical weighbridge was very limited. However DWML were concerned that alternative solutions could cause major disruption to waste services in the region and needed the weighbridge to be operational again as quickly as possible.

Westco have developed a tried and tested procedure for upgrading existing imperial mechanical pit weighbridges, without the need to make time consuming and costly changes to the pit structure itself. As a result, they were confident they could meet the tight time restraints and it was agreed that the most cost effective long term solution would be to replace the Avery weighbridge with a bespoke version of their fully electronic pit mounted Eurodeck.

The Eurodeck is ideal for such replacements. Its low profile, modular construction means that non-standard imperial pit sizes and depths can be accomplished with minimum changes to the weighbridge structure. In this application the length of the standard 15 metre Eurodeck weighbridge was reduced to the required 45 ft and its width increased to 10 ft. The height difference within the sloping floor of the pit was accommodated using specially designed steel support columns, thereby ensuring the new weighbridge, together with the load cells, fitted exactly flush with the surface.

Having fabricated all the key components off site, Westco engineers were able to remove the old weighbridge, fit the new deck and then commission and verify it for trade use within the required time frame.

The Eurodeck design has an excellent reputation for strength and durability in the harshest of environments. The weighbridge features fully welded stainless steel load cells and a special restraint system to minimise the damaging effects of harsh vehicle braking. The main structural beams, which support a robust durbar deck, run length ways, consistent with traffic flow and have sufficient depth so that they do not need stiffening plates. This gives a consistent, well-drained weighing surface, avoiding any build up of condensation. The unsupported span between these beams is only 165 mm, which means that with maximum loading in the centre of a standard module, there is minimum deflection.

Westco’s Director, Dave Clark, is clear on his company’s philosophy and as he explains: “Although we offer a wide range of standard weighbridges, we know that in the real world ‘one size doesn’t fit all’. As a result we maintain the flexibility in-house to build exactly the right weighbridge for any particular application, based on our proven designs. We hold stock of the key modules, allowing us to react rapidly to meet our customers’ out of the ordinary requirements within very short time frames. Many of our competitors do not have this versatile manufacturing capability combined with the requisite engineering skills.”

DWML’s projects manager, Colin Brown, has been very impressed with Westco’s
professional approach to the project and, as he concludes: “We were very pleased how quickly Westco responded to our needs.

From the time I placed the order, it took them little over a week to manufacture the new weighbridge components, remove the old weighbridge and complete the new
installation. Disruption to site operations was kept to an absolute minimum.”