The North West Recycling Centre looked to find an efficient solution to support its green waste recycling business operating in the fast-paced Sydney Basin.
About 48 kilometres north-west of Sydney lies the suburb of Riverstone.
Settled in 1803 as part of a government stock farm, Riverstone is one of the oldest towns in Australia.
It’s also the location of the North West Recycling Centre, a business specialising in recovering green waste material for recycling into high value organic products.
The company’s mission, to provide its customers with a smarter alternative to waste management and reduce their costs, has remained front and centre since Director David Murphy started operations in 1996. Together with his other business C.J Murphy Tree Recycling Services, David says the organisations have since evolved from a small to multimillion dollar operation.
It now offers a total solution to vegetation management, including commercial land clearing, right through to green waste and EPA-approved composting across various sites within the Sydney basin, including in Schofields and Leppington. The company has also worked on various large-scale infrastructure projects such as the Northern Road upgrade and spends significant time travelling on arterial roads.
With efficient green waste shredding being a priority, David says the company needed an efficient, economical and mobile machine to support its customers. Once green waste is collected at the North West Recycling collection centre, the organic matter begins a 10-12 week process where it is recycled and converted into compost, organic soil conditioner and mulch products.
David says it was particularly important to find a machine that could significantly reduce the size of C.J. Murphy’s green waste as the Sydney suburbs the company operates in are high density.
“It’s very important for us to be within Roads and Maritime Services limits on kerbside views and weights,” David explains.
To support these requirements, David turned to Komatsu, a company that was able to meet his needs above and beyond the competition. Komatsu recommended the 2710D Horizontal Grinder, a portable an efficient grinder that could reduce contamination at a high throughput.
“We looked at a lot of machines on the market and product support and maximum downtime were our biggest considerations,” David says.
“Reducing downtime was key for us as our clients are on tight schedules and any time lost can be costly.”
The North West Recycling Centre tailors its solutions to customers for better collection efficiency and ecofriendly working, aiming to save them on transportation, labour, tipping and environmental costs. The company accepts all green waste materials, including tree stumps, logs and branches shrubs, glass clippings, noxious materials and other green wastes.
David says that the heavy duty and mobile machine is also able to handle a variety of materials with its large feed opening. The 2710D Horizontal Grinder uses a three-stage grinding process to improve material fracturing and result in a more consistent product. Weighing in at 30,900 kilograms, it is the lightest of the grinder series.
An impact release system comprises air bags that provide uniform grinding and protection from contaminated feedstocks. Urethrane cushions and shear pins help protect the mill from catastrophic damage should contaminants in the feedstock cause an impact.
Combined with a powerful Caterpillar C18 engine, the 2710D is designed for high-production operations and frequent moves between jobs. David says the engine has a higher amount of torque than the previous model.
The 2710D includes a large grate area that enables it to produce materials to exact specifications. A quick change multiple grade system allows users to customise grate configurations with ease for a wide range of finished materials.
Grates can also be removed through an easy access door on the side wall. For operators working on hilly or rocky terrain, triple grouser wide tracks enable better handling and maximise productivity.
With the company processing up to 1000 tonnes of green waste a day, every hour not spent processing is a potential dollar lost.
“At the end of the day, it all comes down to efficiency and outgoing and running costs versus processing gains. It’s a pretty efficient machine compared to others out there on the market,” David says.
He says that Komatsu’s product support team was of great assistance, as they are able to support the company with basic welding and repairs as well as a full service of CAT engines.
Komatsu offers 12 months, 2000 hours warranty as standard on genuine parts supplied and fitted by the company for service and repairs. In addition, Komatsu Australia’s Condition Monitoring Services can be utilised to maximise equipment uptime with in-depth analysis, testing and evaluation. This allows operators to identify any potential warning signs and issues to prevent early component failures.
“Komatsu is very easy to contact for backup service and has been great to deal with,” David says.
He says that he is so pleased with the machines that he is already looking at a third to support the growth of the business.