CSWDC (Coventry & Solihull Waste Disposal Co Ltd) are one of only a few LAWDC’s (Local Authority Waste Disposal Company) remaining in the UK.
They are a small privately owned Waste Management company, with experience in many aspects of Waste Management including Incineration, Public Waste Site, Landfill. They are owned jointly by Coventry City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, who have a vested interest in ensuring the company does the best for the community.
Over 70 Operational and Administrative staff are employed at CSWDC and the plant runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In 2001 the plant boasted incineration figures of up to 220,000 tonnes per year and power generation of 17.7MW/hour together with 9MWt of heat for local use, thanks to the addition of a large Public Waste Recycling and Disposal Facility and a second power generation plant.
35 years ago CSWDC purchased an Overband magnet to function within the incineration plant. They purchased the magnet from the company formerly known as Industrial Magnets Ltd, the overband was designed by an engineer named Geoff Worley. He designed the overband using the old fashioned method of pencil and drawing board, long before Auto CAD and Computers were used.
Geoff later went on to start his own magnet company, Master Magnets Ltd which was established in 1978, over the years Master Magnets prospered and its product range, services, capabilities and facilities grew with the company.
Industrial Magnets were eventually taken over by Integrated Recycling Systems (IRS) Ltd, and then just to complete the circle Master Magnets acquired IRS Ltd in 2005 expanding their capabilities even further.
Early in 2006 CSWDC contacted Master Magnets after finding out they are now the parent company of IRS Ltd and thus Industrial Magnets. CSWDC explained to Master Magnets Ltd that their Overband magnet which was originally bought from Industrial Magnets Ltd 35 years ago no longer operated, and they wished to either replace it or purchase a new one, they were very surprised the find out that Geoff is now the Chairman of Master Magnets and he is still fully involved within the Magnet industry.
Master Magnets recommended that a site visit would be beneficial, to enable a Mastermag engineer to evaluate if the unit needs to be replaced or repaired. After a discussion with head office and CSWDC, the engineer decided that the best strategy would be to design and manufacture a new overband magnet. The new magnet would prove to be more efficient incorporating a more modern design.
The proposed Overband Magnet would have to meet CSWDC requirements.
It will be required to be able to extract metal from incinerator ash moving at approximately 12 tonnes/hr.
It will be required to be able to operate at a working gap of 300mm.
It should be heavy duty and capable of handling warm material straight from the incinerator ash.
It must operate over a belt width of 1.5 metres.
After Master Magnets fully understood CSWDC requirements they were able to quote the appropriate overband. Master Magnets recommended that CSWDC should replace the old unit with an Oil Cooled Coil Wound (OCW) Overband magnet. The OCW overband has a high magnetic strength producing 869 gauss at the required working gap of 300mm, more powerful than the previous unit installed which could only produce 500 gauss. Due to the high magnetic strength the overband would be able to work at an increased operating gap if required enabling it to extract ferrous from a deeper burden, and at a faster speed thus increasing the feed rate.
CSWDC were impressed with the proposed solution, and they understood the potential benefits that the stronger magnet would give. Consequently they agreed to place an order. The overband was custom designed and manufactured to fit directly into their incineration plant conveyor, the unit weighed just over 5 tonnes meaning that the frame supporting the unit had to be specially modified.
The overband is now in full operation at Coventry working within their incineration plant. CSWDC expect the unit to pay for itself within months, and the overband is expected to last for another 35 years or more.
For more information call 0844 560 7706 and quote ‘Magnetic’

This article originally appeared in Issue 27 of The Skip magazine

Cheshire-based demolition, recycling and waste disposal specialists, Nick Brookes has taken delivery of a new 13 litre Volvo FM 8×4 hook lift fitted with a tri-axle close coupled trailer plus a Boughton hookloader and Kwikcova system.

Based from their state-of-the-art recycling centre near Nantwich, Nick Brookes has seen continued growth since they were established over 15 years ago. According to Nick Brooke’s Transport Manager, Gary Edwards, this has been possible as “the company always invest in the best equipment for the task in hand.”
Their latest arrival is no exception; the FM-440 is plated for 32 tonne gross combination weight and has been specified with a manual gearbox, a Day cab in ‘Fleet’ trim, as well as the additional drawbar specification.
At present the company runs a mixed fleet of 25 vehicles, 8 of which are Volvo. Gary commented, “Volvo has been extremely competitive on price and having reliable, local backup support in the form of Thomas Hardie Commercials has been a major factor in our recent purchases.”
Along with the rest of Nick Brookes’ fleet the new FM will be used on domestic and commercial recycling contracts across the Northwest, which help reclaim around 87% of the waste collected.
The new arrival joins another two recently-purchased Volvo FL and FE-240 skip loaders in the fleet.
For more information call 0844 560 7706 and quote ‘Nick Brookes’
This article originally appeared in Issue 27 of The Skip magazine

Electronic recycling is big news at the moment but there are still lots of companies and individuals who are still unsure of the best way to go about getting rid of old computers. In the following article I’ll be handing out four top computer recycling tips for those eager to find out more about the do’s and the don’ts.
Tip 1
Firstly, make sure you clear your computer of all your personal information or business files – you don’t want to run the risk of any important data falling into the wrong hands! By running a disc-cleaning utility you’ll be able to ensure that all the partitions on your hard drive are overwritten, which in turn will mean all data will be unrecoverable.
Tip 2
If your unwanted computer is still working why not donate it to a school or a charity. The computer will need to be under five years old in order for it to be of use. If it is older than this return it to the manufacturer or take it to a computer refurbisher. Dell are just one of many companies who now accept their old computers back and in turn recycle them for you.
Tip 3
Don’t forget to include all the computer’s accessories if you choose to donate it. Make sure the keyboard, mouse, printer, modem and all the software packages are included. Schools, charities and other non-profit organisations can nearly always put them to good use, but most organisations only accept complete computer systems.
Tip 4
Any computers that are over five years old or are no longer working should always be tagged for recycling. A computer recycler will be able to remove any of the hazardous elements and break the computer down into its various parts before it’s recycled. Two well known computer recycling companies are ITGreen (0870 3000905) and Computer Salvage Specialists (01635 552666).
Email the Garbage Guru at theguru@theskip.net to ask any questions about the murky world of waste. For more tips visit www.skiphiremagazine.co.uk
This article originally appeared in Issue 27 of The Skip magazine

“Blue Is the Colour”, sang Chelsea FC in 1972 and whilst such a song may not seem particularly relevant to waste management, it is a sentiment very much on the lips of Weir Waste Service Limited in Birmingham this month.

A long-term Blue Machinery customer, Weir Waste, happy to announce the installation of a Kiverco static waste processing plant at their modern recycling premises at Bordsley Green, Birmingham.
Primarily sorting and processing C&D waste, the Kiverco plant forms the first stage in a development of the site to enable Weir Waste to recycle both heavy and light waste.
Blue Machinery was recently appointed as a main distributor for the Kiverco range and this is the first major Kiverco plant to be sold and brought on stream by Blue Machinery Southern and is believed to be the largest static installation of its kind in the West Midlands.
The plant consists of a series of Kiverco units linked to form an integrated processing stream. A vibrating pan feeder has a variable speed, angle and throw to efficiently break up sticky material prior to the waste passing an overband magnet to remove tramp metals before it enters a Kiverco KL 830 Trommel for the screening process. The KL 830 Trommel separates 0-25mm soil/fines and 25-50mm filler material which is subsequently crushed to produce a high quality recycled aggregate.
Next, the waste passes an air separator to remove lightweight materials and from there, it is conveyed to a picking station where wood and other recyclables are removed to produce clean hardcore as the final product at the end of the conveyor.
Weir Waste reckons it is recycling between 85% and 90%, which is not only creating a wide range of saleable clean recycled materials but also vastly reducing tip-to-landfill waste.
Recycled aggregate is used in non-structural concrete, for haul roads and as a civil engineering and construction sub-base material; timber is sold on for chipping and shredding and paper is baled by Weir and sold for subsequent pulping. Ferrous and non-ferrous metals are taken by metal merchants in the region.
“We’re averaging 600 tonnes through this plant every day” says Managing Director Danny Weir.
“When we were looking to develop our site, we needed to replace the plant we bought some time back from Blue Machinery Southern. They recommended the Kiverco system and we are very pleased with its performance. We have worked with Blue Machinery for many years now and, once again, their expert advice and after sales support have been invaluable. They are very much a one-stop-shop for us for a wide range of recycling plant and equipment and, naturally, we are also talking to them about the light waste materials processing plant which is Phase Two of our development programme.”
Weir Waste Services Limited is a long established family owned organisation, with father Ron Weir and son Danny running the day-to-day operation. In addition to their major investment in the new Kiverco static plant at the Bordsley Green premises, Weir Waste has a modern fleet of Fuchs materials handlers and Komatsu loading shovels feeding the processing machinery, stockpiling and carrying out other duties.
For more information call 0844 560 7706 and quote ‘True Blue’

This article originally appeared in Issue 27 of The Skip magazine