Hydrostatic shredding with Terex Ecotec: Finlay Waste and Recycling

The Rural City of Wangaratta’s recent moves to boost organics recovery saw council team up with equipment specialists Finlay Waste and Recycling.

The Rural City of Wangaratta, like most communities across Australia, faces major challenges with the collection and disposal of waste. Most notably, a growing population and ageing landfill.

That said, council recognises that most household and commercial waste produced in the city is recoverable, and has adopted a proactive approach which focuses on the provision of systems and services to recover recyclables and food and garden organic waste, prior to disposal in landfill.

To support this approach and boost recovery rates, council began construction on a new organics processing facility at Bowser landfill in North Wangaratta in 2018. The facility commenced operations in January this year.

The plant has the capacity to process 12,000 tonnes of organic material each year, and will have the ability to increase its production over the next five years.

It comprises seven bunkers with a capacity of 425 cubic metres per cell, with processing undertaken via covered aerated state pile composting.

The process can handle a range of organic feedstock materials, with the main inputs including kitchen, garden and food wastes from commercial businesses and residential kerbside collections.

To facilitate this process and capitalise on the benefits of high-quality compost, Wangaratta Council understood that it needed a heavy-duty shredder to perform the initial stages of separating, shredding and size reduction.

As such, it put out a request for tender for a new, diesel powered, rubber track mounted, slow speed shredder in 2019.

Council received 12 submissions, with the final tender awarded to Finlay Waste and Recycling.

Finlay delivered a Terex Ecotec TDS820 Slow Speed Shredder to Wangaratta City Council in February this year.

The tender was evaluated against cost to council – direct and indirect, warranty and parts, fuel efficiency, delivery time, Australian Standards and local content.

The final evaluation was based upon the documentation submitted at tender and additional documentation supplied following an interview process and site visits – with the TDS820 coming out on top.

According to Brian Bowman, council’s Waste Operations Team Leader, while the quality of the TDS was integral to council’s decision, Finlay’s committed approach to customer support was the standout.

“We get a phone call from Finlay once every two weeks to see how the shredder is going. Their back-up service is exceptional,” he says.

Bowman adds that the TDS820 has been running efficiently and is well suited to support Wangaratta’s organics processing operations.

The TDS820 features customisable shredding programs that give operators the opportunity to configure the machine to their specific requirements, reduce material wrapping and maximise production.

Designed with independently driven shafts, the double-shaft slow speed shredder enables excellent performance in even the most challenging of applications.

Key features include a hydrostatic drive that provides increased protection against contamination and allows for bi-directional shredding.

Furthermore, the TDS820’s two-metre-long shafts are manufactured with a fully welded tooth configuration, which facilitates high-level throughput and excellent material reduction.

The shredder’s independent gearboxes enable each shaft to run separately, reducing material wrappage for effective shredding operations.

Additional features include a tipping feeder that increases feed area, and hopper extensions that provide increased capacity in bulky applications.

The machine is manoeuvred via a robust tracked undercarriage, making it highly efficient in difficult terrain.

Bowman explains that as a key component of Wangaratta’s new organics facility, the TDS820 is helping council achieve its wider waste and resource recovery objectives.

The successful commissioning of the organics processing plant, for which the shredder was essential, is also working towards reducing Wangaratta’s greenhouse gas emissions.

As a part of its works approval application to the EPA, council modelled its Greenhouse Gas Emissions using the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act’s model to measure the difference between having its own facility and transporting off-site.

The results of this modelling clearly indicated that if council were to operate an organics facility locally, there would be a reduction of CO2 entering the atmosphere by 35.26 tonnes annually.

“We made sure that we did our homework to get the right machine for job, and we’re glad that we made the right call going with Finlay. It’s an ideal piece of equipment for our operations,” Bowman says.

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