With a constantly growing population, the city of London and its surrounding boroughs generate a vast volume of waste on an annual basis.
Dealing effectively and productively with over 130,000 tonnes of this waste is Westminster Waste, headquartered just south of the Thames in Belvedere.
State-of-the-art facilities, eco-friendly approach
The company has recently moved to a new, state-of-the-art recycling facility and currently recycles up to 99% of the incoming, non-hazardous materials they deal with. As the company has expanded to allow for more in-depth recycling techniques to be employed, a requirement for a larger fleet of mobile material handlers and waste handlers has become clear.
Along with the company’s desire to streamline its operations at the new premises, Managing Director Dominic Moule and his team have also been able to look at their day-to-day operations with a view to increasing their operating efficiency and potentially reducing their carbon impact. Whilst investment in fuel-efficient waste handlers and material handlers was the first step towards this, the opportunity to reduce their annual fuel consumption even further came recently when they took delivery of one of their first electric material handlers, a Sennebogen 817E.
Compact yet powerful material handlers
The 817E is the smallest of the material handlers in the German manufacturer’s range, yet it delivers productivity and performance more often seen in larger material handlers. “We have an issue with a relatively low ceiling height in our reception hall,” Dominic pointed out. “This meant we needed a compact machine which wouldn’t reduce our throughput of material.
“Molson Green has been knocking on our door for a long while without success, but following a trial of the 817E, we knew immediately that it was the machine for us. The layout of the new recycling facility has allowed us to install a state of the art screening and picking station, all under cover, and whilst our older facility required us to keep the doors open to provide a throughput of fresh air, switching to electric waste handlers means that noise, dust and odours could be contained and dealt with inside the building, avoiding any issues with our neighbours.”
All the feel and performance of the diesel model
The 817E electric material handlers are one of Sennebogen’s most popular models. Sitting on a wheeled undercarriage with four-point outriggers, the 817E’s upper structure has had the traditional diesel engine removed and replaced with a powerful 75kW electric motor. Almost silent in operation and virtually maintenance-free, the waste handlers deliver swift and constant power to the standard hydraulic system, ensuring the operator retains the feel and performance they receive from a traditional engine.
The 75kW motor allows these material handlers to operate in a similar fashion to their traditional diesel-powered stablemates, but with the added environmental benefits of a huge reduction in noise and emissions. With the introduction of the electric machine, maintenance has also been massively reduced thanks to fewer moving components. The removal of the traditional cooling pack has reduced fire risks caused by material buildup on the radiator cores, and again, this has reduced the maintenance costs associated with this. Access to all of the machine’s major components is identical to the diesel version, with a wide opening canopy on the offside of the upper structure. All of the electrical components are IP-rated to allow the machine to be thoroughly washed down on a regular basis.
Flexible hybrid power
As with traditional electric machines, the 817E material handlers come with a fixed cable allowing the machine limited movement to and from the working area whilst plugged in. Dominic wanted the ability to move the machine around the reception hall and away from the worksite while the machine gets serviced. To achieve this, the Sennebogen is fitted with an additional counterweight which holds a 19kW Hatz diesel engine. Seamlessly incorporated into the operating system of the waste handlers, the diesel powerpack allows the operator to move and reposition the machine under its own power as and when it is required.
The front-end equipment on the 817E material handlers is the same as it has always been, with the machine carrying K8ULM equipment and a 500L Prodem selector grab. This particular choice of equipment allows up to 8m of ground-level reach and sufficient reach and capacity to keep the recycling plant charged. The smaller boom and stick combination also reduces the overall height of the machine, allowing it to work close to the eaves of the shed without fear of hitting the structure.
Like all Sennebogen material handlers and waste handlers, the elevating Multicab offers the operators an unimpeded view across the material they are sorting and also gives them a clear view into the in-feed hopper of the screener it feeds. An array of standard LED lights illuminates the work areas, even through some of the dustier conditions they regularly encounter.
Increasing safety and productivity
The addition of one of Sennebogen’s material handlers to the Westminster Waste fleet has allowed the company not only to remove the human element from their initial material sorting activities, making it far safer and more efficient.
The company handles a wide variety of inert commercial, construction and demolition waste at their site, and the nature of the incoming material requires them to pre-sort it as it is tipped. Whilst some of this work was done by hand, the arrival of the new Sennebogen waste handler has allowed them to remove the need for operatives working around the machine and incoming vehicles, increasing the safety and productivity of this arduous task. With some of the more obvious items removed and sent to their respective waste streams, the material is then fed into a Rentec fixed plant, separating material via a series of screens, trommels and a large picking station, leaving a series of materials ready to send out for reuse and recycling.
“We are very happy with the Sennebogen so far,” says Dominic. “Molson has delivered an excellent, productive and efficient machine, and when called upon, has been very responsive in dealing with any issues we have encountered.”
