Pete Dickson, Commercial Director at Impact Environmental Group (a leading operator in the provision of waste and recycling products and service solutions), offers his insight on budget optimisation throughout waste and recycling management process.
With increasing pressures on local authorities and private waste operators, the need for cost savings and achieving greater efficiencies is very much a key consideration.
Choose key features for container longevity
When procuring containers, as well as that all important saving to the bottom line with an attractive lead-in unit price, do pay attention to the robustness of the container, alongside its readiness to refurbish.
Features such as a thick container base for additional corrosion resistance and robustness, rodent-proof drain plug, enhanced castor brackets to minimise stress points, highly durable castors and internal bash plates for reinforcement come as standard in the Taylor Mark IV container, and will extend the life of your stock considerably.
Procuring a mixed stock of old & newly refurbished
For those that need to procure a larger quantity of containers, yet faced with tight budget restrictions, another option is purchasing a mixed supply of new and newly refurbished – a trend we are increasingly seeing with clients.
In fact, our UK Container Maintenance (UKCM) business has recently seen a considerable 22% hike in demand for second-hand, fully-refurbished metal waste and recycling containers, including four-wheeled metal containers, FELs (front-end loaders), RELs (rear-end loaders), skips and roll-on roll-off (RORO) containers.
Throughout the refurbishment process when repair work is undertaken and any required new parts are fitted, the containers are shotblasted to ensure a more durable and enhanced aesthetic finish in readiness to re-spray with anti-corrosive, lead free paint. These fully refurbished options aid reduced budgets, without having to compromise on the quality or integrity of the container.”
Another option is to consider container rentals, negating what can be a large upfront capital cost in favour of a more manageable amount spread over the rental term. As well as improving cash flow management, this approach allows you to scale your container stock according to real time needs and facilitates immediate access to premium quality containers.
Giving containers a new life
Refurbishing a container brings old, and often unwanted, waste containers back to life instead of them going to scrap. The business model – refurbishment over replacement – is simple and for half the price of replacing a container, restores the unit to full working order.
The refurbishment can take place either at a specialist facility such as at our factory in Cheshire or onsite at your premises by a mobile team of technicians.
Over the past 12 months, UKCM for example has refurbished 4,000 otherwise redundant containers which required a new base, fitting them with a new floor and securing significant savings for its customers in excess of £250,000.
In addition to the vast cost-saving potential released when unlocking the capital tied up in damaged units by restoring them to full working order, major environmental gains have also been achieved.
Throughout the refurbishment process, the durability of the floor is enhanced with lead-free anti-corrosive paint. Corner enforcers can also be fitted within the container to strengthen the newly installed floor, ensuring the longevity of the asset.
Improving container integrity at the point of container refurbishment
The circular economy, and our obligation to recycle and reuse is very familiar to us all in the waste industry, with organisations now choosing to refurbish their containers and thereby improving their carbon footprint, and achieving significant cost savings.
The container refurbishment process opens up the opportunity to deliver various enhancements such as asset longevity, as well as fulfilling an ever-increasing commitment to reuse and recycling, therefore benefiting the circular economy.
Without our service, containers with damaged floors are often abandoned, and it’s encouraging to see such a significant number coming into our factory for a second life.
When we visit premises, we sometimes see a forlorn looking collection of abandoned bins, with damaged floors. A damaged lid is one of the most common repairs needed; however, further modifications whilst undergoing repair will certainly benefit its longevity in the future.
As well as replacing the floor, and painting with lead-free anti-corrosive paint, an opportunity is also offered to improve durability by fitting corner enforcers within the container to strengthen the floor.
Over a period of time due to the way that containers are used on RCV lifters, damage can occur (sometimes known as “knee capping”) to the front panel of the container which can be reinforced with “bash plates”. This will give a stronger front panel to the container as well as making the container look in better condition.
Tech-enabled efficiencies
The next generation of compactors and balers incorporate state-of-the-art technology for vastly enhanced operational and environmental benefits, allowing critical information from each asset to be shared with service engineers and customers, which will reduce the full life cost of machines and improve uptime.
The cost savings come from engineers not having to attend the site to diagnose issues, as this is done via remote monitoring, and is proving very popular with clients of our Capital Compactors and Balers business, which is the UK’s leading manufacturer of waste and recycling compactors and balers.
The machines have the ability to operate as part of an Internet of Things (IoT) platform, and organisations can access live information that includes, but is not limited to, diagnostics showing faults as well as key indicators such as the fill level, guarding against a waste producer paying to empty a half full unit, providing not only cost but also environmental benefits.
These latest machines can also run economy strokes, with less motor run time and less electricity used.
Further opportunities for recycling
Consideration should also be given to those container components that lay abandoned at a facility. Lids for instance, cast aside as scrap represent both potential cost and environmental savings.
For example, Container Components Europe (CCE), which launched a pioneering environmental lid recycling initiative for its Duraflex Lids operation and together with its customers have recycled over half a million lids, taking in the old parts and remanufacturing them as new.
The lids go on an impressive journey before emerging as a newly constructed, and fully recycled lid. Once collected from CCE’s clients’ premises, the items are shredded and a UV package is added, before the pelletisation of the extruded plastic. The pellets are then ground into powder, before the recycled powder is then charged into the mould.
For more information, visit: https://iegemea.com/
