Complete Waste Management Solution Provided for Derbyshire County Council

Opened in May, the novel North Derbyshire based joint venture between SITA and Derbyshire County Council aims to process 40,000 tonnes of green waste in its first year, saving the council £3.2 million. Finning equipment is at the heart of the operation, with the joint solution provided being the first to include both Cat and Komptech machines in the same package.

Joan Dixon, Derbyshire County Council cabinet member for jobs, economy and transport explained the issue: “Sending waste to landfill is expensive. The county council is facing budget cuts of £157million by 2018 and with landfill tax currently set at £80 per tonne, it’s a cost we just can’t afford”. These punitive EU landfill costs are a significant issue for large organisations such as DCC. Hence why DCC have teamed up with SITA and approached Finning to provide the machinery on site.

With Finning consultants applying their expertise to the Arkwright site, a team made up from both Finning Komptech and Finning Caterpillar employees worked on the account together, orchestrating this novel integrated solution. Thanks to the Finning sourced Komptech Crambo 5200 Shredder, Komptech Cribus 3800 Drum Screen and three Cat 938K Waste Handlers, the green waste previously sent to landfill is now turned into a valuable compost product.

Dean Turner, Account Manager for Finning Caterpillar, commented on the fresh approach to this project: “With the Arkwright site being a new build facility, it was a clean sheet of paper, a new development and new design. There was a clear opportunity for Finning to spec from day one of the consultancy process. With myself working in partnership with Julian Lamb (Strategic Account Manager for Finning Komptech) we were able to identify the equipment needs from both a Caterpillar and Komptech perspective.”

“A good example of this is the combination of machines selected to work at the front end of the composting process (where the green waste is shredded). The Cat 938K Waste Handlers were the ideal compliment for Komptech’s Crambo 5200, with the 938K high tip bucket enabling all waste materials to be processed through the Crambo shredding chamber. The ability for Julian and I to work together on the same contract has been key to ensuring the full compatibility of machines within processes such as this.”

The support, facilitating Arkwright’s workload from both a sustainable and operational viewpoint, has been instrumental in Finning’s solution. With the plant being an enclosed facility, minimal machine pollutants are essential to maintaining a safe working environment for the SITA employees. Julian Lamb explained how this challenge was met: “With Caterpillar engines present in both the Cat and Komptech machines, all mobile equipment on site has 35% pollutant reduction on previous models and reach the EU stage IIIB emissions standards.”

“For example, the Komptech Crambo 5,200 shreds 80-90 tonnes of waste per hour, whilst burning 35% less fuel than diesel driven models in compliance with the Komptech Green Efficiency® model. This allowed SITA to have confidence that the plant’s carbon footprint is kept to a minimum, whilst maintaining high productivity and keeping their workforce safe.”

The UK wide network of Finning support branches proved invaluable within this package. Julian continued:  “With a team of fully trained Finning Caterpillar engineers based just down the road in Chesterfield, we have quick access to the site, enabling us to monitor, service and offer emergency support for the entire fleet of machines at Arkwright.”

“With the seasonal nature of the green waste industry, this monitoring support is especially important in the summer months when uptime operations are at their peak. Being an enclosed facility, incoming waste storage is at a premium. If there is an issue with a machine, we know that we have the resource to identify and resolve the problem as quickly as possible, keeping operational downtime to a minimum.”

Julian closed by stating: “This is a long term investment, with the initial agreement between SITA and Derbyshire County Council being 20 years. Providing the joint solution of Caterpillar and Komptech machines within the same contract, Finning aim to be at the heart of this operation for many years to come.”