First Dennis Eagle eCollects go into service across the UK
The world’s first OEM-designed, all-electric refuse collection vehicle (eRCV) – Dennis Eagle’s eCollect – has gone into service with customers around the UK.
The 26-tonne fully integrated eRCV produces zero emissions, helping operators play a significant role in tackling climate change and local air quality.
The very first customer was Nottingham City Council which bought two eCollects to add to its fleet of more than 140 electric vehicles. It aims to become carbon neutral by 2028 and Assistant Manager (Fleet) Andrew Smith explained: “The electric RCV is the Holy Grail of municipal vehicles and we have wanted one for years. So, to finally get our hands on them and put them in to service emptying bins is very satisfying indeed.
“Both eCollects are in operation and both are out-performing the diesels they replaced. In the first few weeks we have saved around 60 to 70 litres of diesel per truck per day.”
Although its design is based closely on the chassis, body and lift combination of Dennis Eagle’s best-selling diesel RCV, the eCollect spent two years going through exhaustive safety and efficiency tests before it went into production. So, unsurprisingly, Dennis Eagle’s Sales & Marketing Director Richard Taylor said the moment the first eRCV rolled off the line at Warwick was a landmark, both for the waste and recycling industry and in the development of electric vehicles.
“The zero-emissions eCollect is a viable alternative to our best-selling diesel vehicle – both commercially and operationally – but it represents much more than that,” he said.
“If you consider that RCVs routinely visit every street where people live in every community in the country, the positive impact of having an emissions-free option in our industry is very significant indeed.
“The fact that we have reached the point where we can produce a 26-tonne vehicle for such an energy-demanding role also speaks volumes about how far electric vehicles have developed in recent years and how much more widespread they will become in the near future.”
In Islington, the council plans to electrify its entire fleet to help it become carbon neutral by 2030 and its first eCollect went into service in mid-November, another soon following.
Epic Media Group selected as supply partner
EPIC Media Group has been announced as the preferred supply partner for Inspace Media’s award-winning flashing safety signage to the municipal and waste industry.
EPIC Media Group watched the development of the illuminated technology with a keen interest and snapped up the opportunity to become a supplier to an industry with thousands of roadside workers.
The technology is proven to be vastly superior to traditional Chapter 8 chevrons and reflective signs, helping road transport operators to perform safely and responsibly. It provides dramatically increased visibility and maintains the highest levels of performance even in low light and poor weather conditions. The signage can be fitted to any RCV, van or specialist vehicle and can be seen from a mile away, giving other road users significantly more time to safely reduce speed and respond appropriately.
The flashing safety signage scooped a prestigious industry accolade last month at the UK Fleet Champions Awards 2020. The Awards which celebrate the success and commitment of those working to prevent crashes and reduce pollution caused by vehicles used for work purposes, gave praise to the products for creating safer working environments for roadside workers.
Kevin Murton, Managing Director of EPIC Media Group said: “We are excited about these products. Our municipal and waste industry clients are always on the lookout for ways to improve the safety of their roadside workers and the general public. These illuminated signs provide an excellent addition to our product offering, giving out clients a one stop shop to kit out their fleet.”
Alex Knowden, Director of Sales and Business Development at Inspace Media said: “This UK Fleet Champions Award acknowledges the dedication and hard work that has taken place to bring our industry-first vehicle safety proposition to market, which has been developed to reduce roadside collisions and ultimately prevent injuries and fatalities.” He went on to say: “We are excited to be working with EPIC to take our products to an industry that actively looks to protect roadside workers and the general public.”
Enva publishes Sustainability Report
Enva, has published its 2020 Sustainability Report, setting out how it sees its role in meeting two of the major challenges of our time – the pressure on ‘finite and dwindling’ natural resources and the difficult pathway to Net Zero CO2.
Highlights from the report include:
- 3 million tonnes of waste given a ‘second life’ as materials or products
- Avoidance of 318,000 tonnes of CO2 through production and sale of waste-derived products and materials
- 94% waste diverted from landfill
- 29% business growth
- £45m invested in resource recovery infrastructure
Commenting on the launch of the report Enva’s CEO, Tom Walsh said: “This report reflects Enva’s passion for the recovery of materials from waste and using them to create high value products, materials and sustainable fuels.
“In doing so, we provide alternatives to consumption of Earth’s natural resources and make a significant contribution to the avoidance of CO2.”
The report is based on the company’s ‘Three Pillars of Sustainability’ namely environmental, economic and social – a framework it adopts to ensure it operates in a sustainable manner and to provide a broader meaningful context for its future activities and targets.
The full report can be viewed at www.enva.com/2020-sustainability-report
Arco launches report on government PPE procurement ‘crisis’
With the Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic coming under growing parliamentary scrutiny, Arco has published a Position Paper: Personal Protective Equipment and the Government’s Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Arco’s report offers insight into their experiences dealing with Government bodies and other agencies as part of the PPE supply chain.
It proposes a 10-point set of recommendations to prevent a repeat of the high-profile issues that were seen during the first wave of the crisis and to ensure the country is better protected in any future pandemic.
When the Covid-19 pandemic was declared in the UK, the company played a key role in the response, navigating the global supply chain restrictions that led to an international shortage of certain types of PPE.
Arco’s product and supply chain specialists worked quickly to source, procure and distribute over 140 million face masks, 18 million gloves, over 50,000 coveralls and 5,000,000 hygiene products to the NHS, ambulance services, other public health bodies, local authorities and critical industries.
The first stage of the crisis saw a severe global shortage of PPE at a time of exceptional demand and a poor centrally coordinated response. Early in the pandemic there were many examples of a broken supply chain with frontline workers left without critical PPE. A number of suppliers, like Arco, were holding stock but unable to work with the Government and its agents to supply PPE where it was needed the most. More recently, a National Audit Office Report has highlighted examples of PPE supply contracts being awarded opaquely to organisations with no history of PPE manufacture and supply, who were ultimately unable to fulfil orders. In some cases, non-compliant products were supplied that increased the risks to the public, care home staff and NHS workers. Much money was spent unnecessarily.
To address these issues and ensure future preparedness, Arco has developed a set of recommendations based on its experiences during 2020, set out in its Position Paper. Key highlights include:
- Registration of competent PPE suppliers to be allowed to supply Cat II and Cat III products, ensuring product compliance and quality.
- The Department of Health and Social Care to conduct a thorough review and stress test of its systems from the perspective of suppliers and buyers.
- Reform of the Government’s purchasing portal to screen out unsuitable, or unqualified, companies.
- An education programme to upskill NHS Trusts, local authorities and care home procurement officers in how to understand PPE standards and source and purchase suitable equipment.
- The Government to publish a roadmap for the full reimplementation of the PPE Regulations, to reduce the likelihood of poor quality or ineffective products entering the UK.
Thomas Martin, Arco’s Chairman said: ‘”2020 will be a year that none of us forget. It has been a year of sadness and uncertainty for so many people. Our core purpose is to help keep people safe and we responded immediately the pandemic was declared, working 24/7 to help make sure those at the frontline of the response were properly protected.
“From the outset, we were both frustrated with the procurement system and deeply concerned by some of the simple mistakes made across the UK through a lack of experience of procuring the PPE needed. The NAO report and findings very much reflect this experience. As an established safety business, we feel it’s our duty to report on our experiences and to support the Government in continuing to help deal with the pandemic. We urge the Government to act on our recommendations to ensure we can all be better prepared for any future emergencies.”
To see the full report visit www.arco.co.uk/recommendations
TOMRA Sorting Recycling and STADLER UK Limited partner for Viridor’s £15.4m Masons MRF transformation
In 2019, STADLER UK Limited was appointed by Viridor as one of two main contract partners for the £15.4m upgrade of its Masons Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) near Ipswich, modernising the facility as part of a ten-year Viridor-Suffolk County Council contract renewal.
Viridor runs the MRF on behalf of the Suffolk Waste Partnership.
Viridor specified TOMRA Sorting Recycling’s sensor-based sorting solutions in its tender documentation for the upgrade.
Having already worked together on several projects around the world, STADLER and TOMRA worked in close collaboration from the earliest stages of the tender enquiry to ensure the plant and equipment met Viridor’s specific requirements.
By investing heavily in the plant upgrade, Viridor has been able to transform its operations, increasing capacity from 65,000tpa to 75,000tpa (equivalent to 17 tonnes per hour). The plant is now operating at full capacity and at optimum processing levels. Output quality has also improved considerably thanks to the new TOMRA equipment installed during the upgrade.
Masons’s infeed material is comingled dry mixed recyclables (not including glass) from Suffolk County Council. The material is first processed using brand new mechanical separation equipment, including a dosing drum, a STADLER PPK ballistic separator, a screening drum, STADLER STT 2000 ballistic separators, overband magnets and eddy current separators. Following mechanical separation, the material (apart from fibre) then goes through an air separation process before arriving at the newly installed TOMRA AUTOSORT® optical sensor-based sorting units.
Prior to the upgrade, three TOMRA optical sorters were in place at the MRF. These were replaced by 11 new TOMRA AUTOSORT® units.
As one of the existing units was only four years old, TOMRA simply uploaded the latest software.
The units have been programmed to sort and recover mixed fibre (cardboard, mixed paper and newspapers and pamphlets), and to sort mixed plastics by polymer into high purity single stream plastics (PET, HDPE, hard plastics, film, pots, tubs and trays).
The AUTOSORT® system brings together the very latest in TOMRA’s technologies to deliver advanced accuracy of complex sorting tasks at high throughput rates. Capable of separating materials which are difficult or even impossible to separate using conventional technologies, AUTOSORT® delivers consistently high-performance sorting accuracy across all target fractions – even in the most complex of applications.
Once the MRF’s infeed material at has been processed by the relevant AUTOSORT® units, it is given a final quality control check before being baled ready for transportation to end customers, all of whom are UK-based.
Any material that is left once all the target fractions have been recovered is sent for energy recovery or to landfill.
