Sort out value with versatile machines

David Banks, Sales Manager – Waste and Recycling Sector at JCB, comments on the value materials handling machines can bring to the waste sorting process.

The extraction of value is present in every aspect of daily operations, from picking stations, RDF & SRF production, to sorting skips and loading Lorries. The challenges of making a profit, finding outlets, and ensuring materials remain clean are all a reality of running a Transfer Station and Waste & Recycling Facility. As profits are constantly challenged, now could be the time to look at alternative ways to drive cost cutting.

A good place to start is when waste has been deposited from incoming skips, manual, hand-sorting of waste straight of the ground is being outmoded by plant that can handle all the types of waste that a typical site may receive.

For example, the swivelling selector grab makes the JCB Hydradig Wastemaster an incredibly dexterous and flexible tool for sorting waste. This allows the operator to easily pick out a piece of contamination among a waste pile. The same tool can grab a bucket-load of waste free of contamination. This means the Hydradig can not only carry out the heavy shifting that only a machine can perform, but it can also do the job of manual sorters. Because the machine does not need to wait for slower manual labour to take over the sorting role, it creates a safer work environment and it increases the site’s productivity, thus improving its bottom line.

Another versatile piece of equipment for waste operations that can help with sorting is the JCB 5CX Waste Master, which is purpose built for Household recycling and Civic Amenity sites.
If an HWRC receives, an influx of mixed waste, including mattresses, aggregates and ferrous and non-ferrous metals that need to be stacked, compacted, sorted and separated, this is the kind of job that is often managed by a number of machines, inevitably all being used intermittently.

Having just one machine managing all of these tasks, however, will result in obvious benefits to operators in terms of running costs. Because the JCB 5CX Waste Master can serve all applications efficiently, with a single operator, it ensures better machine management and maintenance, as well as a far greater reduction in potential near misses and accidents.

In its simplest form, the 5CX is a Small Wheeled Loading Shovel and a Material Handler in one machine. Using the Front Waste Multi-shovel with Top Grab a site can maintain a waste pile and transport materials to where they need to be without the requirement of larger equipment being utilised. Three ‘Steer Modes’ and exceptional visibility ensures that the operator can move around any area where there are likely to be people, providing a much safer working environment for everybody on site.

Further multi-tasking is possible thanks to its ‘forklift capability’ of up to 2000 kg, and a range of attachments to suit applications like container movement and yard sweeping.

These are some of the solutions that waste and recycling sites can deploy to divert personnel away from ‘on-the ground’ sorting operations, moving them out of the way of vehicles travelling around a busy site.

Associated Businesses

  • Rocester, ST14 5JP