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The need to sort waste for recycling promised to transform refuse-collection vehicles — but conventional bin vvagons are making a

1st December 2005
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Page 56, 1st December 2005 — The need to sort waste for recycling promised to transform refuse-collection vehicles — but conventional bin vvagons are making a
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

comeback Dean Stiles reports.

The industry-standard kerbside refusecollection vehicle, a two-axled rearloader fitted with one binl ift, is giving way to heavier threeand four-axle chassis with multiple binlifts — often with two or threecompartment bodies.

But the growth in sales of vehicles designed solely for kerbside collection of recyclable materials is expected to slow down.

Local authorities, faced with the need to divert waste from landfill sites on pain of draconian financial penalties, initially opted for kerbside collection of separated recyclable materials and general waster-Ibis has created a market in specialised equipment. typically multi-compartment vehicles, which now accounts for up to 15% of current volumes.

But there's a limit to how much separation al waste householders can.or will, do.To meet future recycling targets,local authorities will have to rely on more capital-intensive municipal recycling facilities to separate

mixed household waste collected in the traditional manner.

'Ibis leaves fleet engineers facing the dilemma of specifying vehicles for applications that may prove short-lived.Whaes been lost in the proliferation of body types coming onto the market (many developed for Continental needs) are the traditional virtues of flexibility and simplicity.

A couple of years back, research into organic waste collection by Sita Trust found the most successful vehicle in terms of kilograms lifted per hour was a standard rearend loader with compaction and lift for 140and 240-litre bins. But this study, conducted in Bath and north-east Somerset, also highlighted manoeuvrability problems in

narrow sticets because of the body's large rear overhang.

This explains why some operators specify refuse-collection bodies on 7.5tonners despite the relatively low twotonne payload, even on lightweight chassis like the lsuzu.

Steered rear axles

But additional steering axles go some

way toward improving manoeuvrability on larger vehicles. Aberdeenshire County Council, for example, runs nine 6x2 Daf 75 6-tonners with steered rear axles and a Mercedes-Benz 8x4 F.conic with Faun VarioPress, built for Onyx for use on a Sheffield City Council contract. has a second steered axle mounted immediately in front of the rear bogie.

Collection of source-separated waste has thrown up new problems for operators.

Even with compaction,low-density materials like plastic bottles make volume all-important, while green waste has the opposite effect. Once compacted.it brings the risk of rear-axle overloads-and for composting purposes.green waste is better loose than compacted.The Rotopress body is proving particularly effective on geen waste collection and is often specified for this application to provide the composting centre with a loosely compacted load without risk of axle overloads.

Most operators are still wedded to refusecollection vehicles that are as near standard as possible. unless they enjoy long-term contracts that justify the capital outlay needed for new, higher-spec vehicles.

Keeping specialised collection vehicles fully utilised is an all-too-common problem. Terberg's Kerbsider is a case in point. Designed for two-axle chassis, it features a non-compaction tipping body with six individually adjustable compartments and is ideal for collecting multiple waste streams but isn't easily redeployed.

A compromise solution is to split the collection body into one-third and two-thirds compartments to handle general waste and some recyclables on a single round. For its new contract with the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. fleanaway opted for Dennis Eagle Phoenix bodies with Terberg split hinlifts for

general waste collection. But for collection of' recyclable materials. Cleanaway relies on a similar chassis fitted with the Dennis Eagle1Win Pack and triple binlifts.

--ANN

As waste is diverted from landfills, so too are kerbside collection vehicles:nowadays they more often tip at recycling centres. Road conditions are generally better at these centres. which enables the use of lighter chassis and single drive axles. However, at least one operator has suffered major problems when forced to switch its drops to a landfill site not suitable for these single-drive-axle lightweights.

SMM'1' figures show that sales of 6x2 chassis for refuse-collection work doubled last year, while 6x4 chassis sales fell 15%.

Auto boxes Changes are also likely in transmission specification. Allison auto boxes have dominated the municipal market but operators are now beginning to see merit in lighter, automated boxes which are driver-friendly and offer improved fuel consumption, even in stopstart operations.

Isuzu now offers its 7.5-tormer with an automated transmission which is significantly cheaper than the automatic option-and

expects sales in this sector to increase significantly. Next year. operators at the heavy end of the market will be offered MAN's TGA-derived low-entry cab, built by Dennis in a joint venture.which will use MAN's TipMatic automated transmission.

But the main factor in vehicle specification will be the collection service demanded by councils.They will not he able to meet their future recycling targets by relying solely on householders to sort their waste. and as more municipal recycling centres are built, kerbside waste collection will continue to concentrate on unsorted household waste.

This is especially true in urban areas where it's impractical for householders to stack yet more bins in the streerand too costly for operators to empty these separate bins.

A singleor twin-compartment rear-endcompaction RCV operating at 23 tonnes G-VW or more is likely to remain the most

effective method of collection because of its simplicity and versatility.

Cost will keep operators focused on payload so threeand four-axle chassis are likely be prevalent.The market for 7.5-tonners is unlikely to remain much more than a niche sector because. while these vehicles are ideal for short rounds in urban areas, they are limited by payload.A narrow-bodied 15-tormer might be a viable compromise. combining reasonable manoeuvrability with a much higher payload.

We'll have to wait and see if householders will ever he forced to pay for their refuse collection by weight, but in any case councils need to measure waste collected to prove they're meeting their targets.The result? Binweighing equipment will become universal. •


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