SkipHireMagazine.co.uk » waste industry

Time for new Recycling Plant Equipment?

Dave — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:45:17 +0000

Are you thinking of investing in new or upgrading your existing plant
for your recycling yard?
If so it would be worth a call to EMS on 028 3885 1103
Why?
EMS design, manufacture and install full turnkey plants for the waste industry!
EMS can custom build plant to meet your SPECIFIC needs!

Installation at Mersey Skips in Liverpool
Plants installed throughout the UK handling C&D, C&I, MSW, Compost,
Dry Recyclables, co mingled, etc. (need a site visit ask them)

Full UK coverage of dealers and service engineers providing first class
support!

Installation in Wolverhampton

Installation in Ayr
EMS provide a full 3d autocad layout for all future plants
OH and finally an exclusive offer to all SKIP MAG readers
EMS are now offering a FULL site survey including a 3d layout drawing
absolutely free (previously £300)

So get in touch today as the offer is only available till the end of
November 09
Contact them now to register your interest and schedule a site survey.
sales@emswasterecycle.com
EMS Ltd, 28 Tallbridge Road, Portadown, Co. Armagh, BT62 1SF
Phone 028 3885 1103
Denver Blemings – Sales Manager 07595 218 686
See our website for further details,
www.emswasterecycle.com

DEVON CONTRACT WASTE PACK IT ALL IN!

Dave — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:53:17 +0000

Devon Contract Waste has recently installed a Randalls Simpak 1800 compactor at its Exeter site and, already, transport costs have halved.
The compactor is used to compact wastes which cannot be used by any of the company’s extensive recycling services. The Simpak 1800 at Devon Contract Waste, the largest in the Randalls range, is currently processing 40-50 tonnes per week, producing a major saving compared with the transport and labour costs incurred in handling uncompacted waste.
Manufactured from premium grade materials, the Simpak 1800 has a 1.7 cubic metre charge box and 7.5 kW motor driving up to a nominal 130 cubic metres an hour, at a compaction force of approximately 28,000 Kgf. Cycle time is 45 seconds. The main control panel and isolator are located inside the rear of the machine and a separate panel close to the loading area is fitted with warning indicators.
Devon Contract Waste was established in 1989 to provide a waste collection and recycling service for both domestic and business clients. It is now the largest independent waste management company in the area.
Approved to ISO 9001:2000, the Skip Units Group is the largest manufacturer of steel containers, skips and equipment for the waste industry in the UK. Apart from Randalls, the other members of the group are Castle Containers of Chesterfield, Waste Equipment Rentals of Stockport, specialists in compactor hire and the Northwich-based Truck Specialists Ltd. which supplies hook lifts and telescopic arm skiploaders.

SKIP WATCH

Dave — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:22:50 +0000

I got dragged along to an Ambassador’s reception recently, as you do when you work in the waste industry. It was pretty boring, to tell you the truth, so I whipped out some of my ‘special interest’ Polaroids that I carry discretely in my top pocket and started showing them around to spice things up a bit. They soon became the focus of the whole evening and, at one point, the Ambassador was actually heard to say “Monsieur, with these tremendously overloaded skip photographs you are spoiling us!” (What? You didn’t think I’d pull out those photos did you!)
So, you see, your fantastic overloaded skip photos are not merely serving the purpose of giving us all a good chuckle each month. They are actually a vital tool in my quest for social acceptance. In fact, they may well have saved my life too, for all I know, when some skinheads tried to mug me at a railway station in south London last February. I was pinned against a fence by two of them, while the third mugger went through my pockets. Luckily, the first thing the little scally found was one of my aforementioned Polaroid collections, and they were all so busy laughing at them that I managed to slip their clutches and do a runner amid the distraction. The loss of some particularly exquisite pictures did take me a while to come to terms with, but I managed to retain all my body parts, so it was a fair trade-off in the end.

Anyway, let’s have a good look at these latest fine specimens to be added to
the collection. The skip above was sent to us by D K Rowe Skip Hire, of London. It’s another victim of pruning madness and is definitely in need of an extreme hair cut before it stands much chance of going anywhere.

Here we have an artfully overpiled collection of household fittings and rubble that was snapped by Sam at Dunmow Skips Ltd. And yes, it’s even got the kitchen sink in there!
My favourite overloaded skip fix this month, however, comes courtesy of Triple C Skips, of Accrington. It’s positively haemorrhaging lounge furniture in all directions! You can bet that the inevitable sofas teetering on the top were not dumped in there by the person who actually hired the skip too (I think that’s pretty much an unwritten rule, nowadays isn’t it?)

Right, I’m off to a speed dating evening now – where the pictures never fail to make an instant impression. Please help me to continue having a social life by sending more great overloaded skip pics to pr@theskip.net or post them to – The Skip, Baxall Business Centre, Adswood Road, Stockport, SK3 8LF.

MORE FLY-TIPPING, DARLING?

Dave — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:02:54 +0000

THE BIGGEST EVER RISE IN LANDFILL TAX: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE SKIP HIRE INDUSTRY?

The announcement on 12th March by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, that the landfill tax will increase from £24/tonne to £32/tonne has sent ripples of concern through the waste industry. There has also been a very positive response from many of the top-tier waste management companies who view it as a positive step towards recycling and environmental protection.
Furthermore, Mr Darling announced his intention to increase the tax by a further £8 every year to 2009/2010 where it will stand at £48/tonne. The price of inert is set to increase from £2/tonne to £2.50 and will be capped at this rate until 2010.
The initial concern to most of the skip hire and small waste management companies in the UK is how it will this affect their business. Worries that the inevitable price increases in skip hire will prohibit many domestic customers from disposing of their waste in a responsible manner are preoccupying many people in the skip hire industry. It is hard not to suspect that every time the Chancellor increases landfill tax, we witness a correlative increase in fly-tipping, particularly in the inner cities.
DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
Steve Cunningham, of CCS Skips in Manchester, says: “It’s a double-edged sword. Nobody would complain at the government’s initiative to reduce landfill but this move is going to encourage fly-yipping for sure. It’s no longer enough to say that increasing prices will inevitably increase recycling rates. Is it not obvious that we are recycling as much as we possibly can? Landfill rates at £24 a tonne are prohibitive enough. This is going to squeeze my profit margins even more”.
Jane Pullen, from Libra Skip Hire in Surrey, is outraged: “As far as I can see, this is a tax on tax! We are forced to increase our prices and the government rakes it in in increased VAT. How are we going to benefit? It’s not as if the government will reinvest this revenue into recycling initiatives. Also this is going to have a knock-on effect on the building trade as it will inevitably increase the on-site costs.”
Another prominent skip hire company owner told The Skip: “It’s not easy trying to tell customers that our prices have to rise by over 20% overnight – how many other industries could cope with such a hike? If they really want to push a green agenda, this is not the way to do it. Our domestic customers are going to laugh down the phone when we tell them how much a skip costs now!”
BIG BOYS HAPPY
The landfill operators themselves will see a reduction in tipping which is, of course, the primary function of the tax. The other view from the large corporate waste management companies are welcoming the tax as an encouragement to further recycling. Steve Lee, chief executive at the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, said: “Raising the tax by £8 per tonne per year to £48 by 2010 for ‘active’ waste will make a whole range of waste treatment technologies financially viable – for all wastes, not just municipal. The three-year plan for the escalator is good, too. Businesses need time to change and even the anticipation of a £48 per tonne tax – plus steadily increasing landfill gate fees – will be enough to influence many waste and resource management decisions.” True, if you are able to invest heavily in all the machinery crucial to increasing recycling rates in the first place. Mr Lee also acknowledges that the downside to the tax increase will be an increase in fly-tipping and other illegal waste management activities.
PANIC
Panic price increasing has already been seen amongst the smaller waste management operatives. Skip companies across the UK have been putting their prices up by as much as £40 per skip in many areas. London has even seen increases of £60 on an 8-yard skip. There can be no uniformity here as each individual company’s prices now depend solely on their individual recycling rates and how much they can avoid sending to landfill. But with these hefty increases, will skip hire become no longer affordable to the consumer? The short answer to this is “possibly”.
The consumer has three choices: pay the premium, seek out ways of recycling the waste themself or fly-tip. It is easy to guess which choice the scrupulous person would make, and which the unscrupulous. It is a safe bet to assume that paying the premium will not be the most attractive option.
Fears of downturns in business and increased illegal activity would be allayed if at the same time as assuring us of further tax increase, Darling could promise a greater spend on fighting waste crime.
Richard Skehens, of Grundon Waste Management, says “More of the increase should be regularly put back into the Landfill Community Fund (LCF) and some of the money should be ring-fenced and passed to the Environment Agency (EA) to assist them in dealing with environmental crime.”
This view was echoed by Jean Dominique Mallet, Veolia Environmental Services’ UK CEO, who said: “We support the government in diverting more funding than it does at present from landfill tax into fighting waste crime.” Skehens went on to say: “The upside of this approach is that it would help to push waste into licensed sites – where it will generate more tax – which could eventually make the EA’s environmental crime unit self financing.”
Let us know your views. Email pr@theskip.net

LANDFILL TAX – THE LOWDOWN
What is landfill tax?
An environmental tax levied on landfill operators which is passed on to its customers and therefore on to any waste producer. Intended to encourage recycling and reflect the non-monetary cost of landfill, such as environmental impact and leachate into water supplies.
What are the rates of tax?
Currently £24/tonne for active waste set to rise to £32/tonne on 1st April 2008, to £40/tonne on 1st April 2009 and to £48/tonne on 1st April 2010. For inert waste (rocks and soils, ceramics and concrete, unused minerals, furnace slags, ash and low-activity inorganic compounds and water) the tax is currently £2/tonne set to rise to £2.50 on 1st April 2008 and capped at this rate until 2010.
What materials are exempt from landfill tax?
Dredgings, any disposal from mines or quarries and any waste from contaminated land clearance (although the Chancellor is currently looking at abolishing this last exemption and subjecting it to the same rates of tax as active waste).
Is it effective?
From 1997 to 2003, landfill fell from 96 million tonnes a year to 80 million tonnes. In 2007, the tax brought in £0.8 billion in revenue. This is set to increase to £0.9 billion in 2008. In the two years following the introduction of the tax, household waste managed by local authorities grew by an unprecedented 5%. It is widely suspected that commercial enterprises are using household waste disposal illegally as a channel for free disposal of waste to avoid the increased disposal rates. It is widely suspected that increased fly-tipping and illegal waste disposal sites are a product of the tax and that the EA has not received sufficient funding to keep on top of the increase.