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Satellites in the mountains
02-JAN-2006

Improving the productivity of waste collection services in hilly regions

Having half-laden collection vehicles
doing repeated rounds is far from ideal, not only for economic reasons but for
environmental ones. In Italy, the use of compact `satellite¿ with larger `mother
ship¿ vehicles is overcoming some uneconomic journey times in hilly or mountainous
regions. Might it be a useful solution elsewhere?

Large equipment specialists ¿ and quite a few smaller manufacturers as well
¿ have shown interest recently in including a compact `satellite unit¿ in their
product ranges. European trade shows are increasingly well stocked with such
options, based on truck chassis ranging from 3500 kg to 15 tonnes in gross weight.
This would suggest that no domestic waste collection operation should be without
its satellite units or some larger three- or four-axle, rear-end-loading refuse
collection vehicles (RCVs), which act as `mother ships¿ into which the smaller,
compact satellite units discharge when fully loaded.

But have you actually seen this process in action? Indeed, how would you recognize
that a smaller vehicle is working on the `satellite¿ principle rather than just
as a conventional RCV? And does the larger machine need any special attributes
in order to operate successfully as a mother ship?

Although the concept has been in use for many years, it was only during a recent
visit to Italy that I realized that I¿d not seen the whole operation work as
it was originally conceived. Subsequent discussions with other waste industry
professionals suggested that they hadn¿t actually seen it first-hand either.
Was this because the concept, which is more popular in southern Europe than
in the north, was the subject of some prejudice? Is it time to explode a few
myths?

No domestic waste collection operation should be without its satellite units

My visit to Italy was to view the recent changes and considerable growth of
the production facilities of the Farid Group. This was an ideal place to begin
my quest to find out more. This privately owned company is now a world-class
manufacturer with factory-owned facilities in Poland, the Czech Republic and
Venezuela, as well as having a high level of production at its main plants in
Italy aimed at export markets elsewhere.

THREE TIMES BETTER?

Despite this seemingly impeccable list of credentials, the scale of the product
range ¿ and indeed the importance of the Farid Group itself ¿ was still a surprise.
With two complete but different lines of standard domestic RCV (the T1 and the
T2) and the heavy-duty Super Titan line of high-capacity rear-end loaders (RELs)
as well as front-end loaders, it¿s soon obvious that Farid has the capability
to provide the necessary mother ships for this kind of operation.

But the big surprise came when a walk around the vehicle dispatch area at the
newly expanded Vinovo production facility in Turin revealed not one, but three
different designs of `satellite¿ machine ¿ each designed for a specific set
of operating conditions. These are the Micro-S, the Minimatic and the Minipac
Mk2, designed for chassis of up to 3500 kg, 7500¿10,000 kg and 14,000¿15,000
kg gross weight, respectively.

There are several nationally based manufacturers of RCVs with more than one
product line but, as far as I¿m aware, Farid can lay the claim to having one
of the largest and widest. Especially when you take into account the recently
upgraded FMO Line container side loader (as recently supplied to the City of
Rome) and the line of liquid waste tankers (previously sold under the Moro brand).
The company claims that total annual production capacity is now more than 1200
units.

FORMIDABLE BARRIER

The satellite concept can be employed successfully in just about any urban
or rural environment where domestic houses and small shops are situated down
historic narrow streets or rural lanes ¿ in fact anywhere where turning a large,
conventionalsized RCV is likely to cause disruption to residents. By its very
nature, the modern RCV has grown to become a complex and rather large piece
of equipment. This is partly due to the need to contain all the compaction equipment
within the vehicle and partly due to the need to provide a viable payload capability
to enable the driver and crew to work a collection route of at least a half-day
shift without having to divert the vehicle to tip.

By its very nature, the modern RCV has grown to become a complex and large piece of equipment

But what if the area¿s geography doesn¿t fit in with this loading strategy?
What if the distance to the waste transfer station, material-recovery facility
or landfill site is several hours away or, even more frustratingly, the fully
laden vehicle is required to travel long distances over routes whose geographical
features make travel slow?

The foothills of the Italian Alps form a pretty formidable barrier. And, as
I was to discover, mountain ranges, deep valleys and the linear pattern of human
settlement with small settlements off the main highway provide an ideal application
for the satellite¿mother ship principle.

After comparing the Micro-S, Minimatic and Minipac Mk2 satellite units, I had
a better understanding of the requirements of such vehicles and the kinds of
operation in which they might be used. The most obvious requirement is for a
compact chassis capable of reaching domestic properties at the end of urban
culde- sacs or narrow rural lanes where turning space available is often not
suited to a conventional RCV. Rear-end containerloading satellite units are
readily available on a half-tonne capacity mini-truck chassis of essentially
Japanese origin, though Italian manufacturer Piaggio recently introduced a one-tonne
capacity mini-truck chassis using a twin-wheeled rear axle. Greek manufacturer
Spider manufactures a high-tip body satellite unit for this one-tonne payload
chassis.

However, it could be argued that for most applications, a 3.5- tonne gross
weight chassis ¿ especially cab-over designs like those from Isuzu or Mitsubishi
Fuso ¿ can usually get into places where any private car can reach. So that
leaves us with a viable load capacity of more than one tonne ¿ provided the
body itself contains little more than a basic binlifter and a simple, hydraulically
powered load press plate within an open-topped body. But a vehicle with around
a one-tonne payload and a limited waste volume reduction capability will clearly
not provide a very long operational window between tipping. Hence the need for
other options.

GREATER RANGE

To meet that need, the Farid Minimatic, which is designed for truck chassis
in the 5¿10 tonne gross weight class, can be fitted to just about any suitable
chassis. In Italy and several other European markets, the Isuzu NQR, which has
a lighter-thanaverage unladen weight, provides an ideal mix of payload capability
and easy-to-drive capability.

However, chassis from other mainstream truck ranges such as DAF, Mercedes and
Iveco are also popular. Because chassis of around 7.5 tonnes have a better payload
margin, the Minimatic features a more versatile binlifter capable of lifting
both domestic wheeled bins (starting at 80 litres) as well as trade waste containers
up to 2000 litres. Body sizes from 6¿8 m3 (airspace) capacity can be specified.

But for greater range and compaction capability, Farid also offers the Minipac
Mk2 ¿ an apparently conventional rear-endloading/ ejector discharge RCV design
suitable for chassis up to 15 tonnes gross weight. So how and why does this
design qualify for the `satellite¿ tag? Because it is specifically designed
to discharge its load through the hopper aperture, directly into the larger
loading hopper of the mother ship RCV. The compaction hopper and the body of
the Minipac are built as one unit so as to avoid any potential for spillage
and the highly undesirable discharge of leachate in a public area.

Testing in the hills of northern Italy Location: north Italy, near the French border at Frejus The challenge: a linear spread of towns and villages along steep valley roads Travelling companion: Luigi Mosca, Area Manager of Seta An Iveco-based Farid Minipac Mk2 satellite unit, operated by Seta, engaging on domestic waste collection in the Italian Alps ABOVE RIGHT There is no physical lock to hold the two units together, but no leaking of leachate or wind-blown debris is created during transfer What happened: First we meet up with the driver of one of the satellite units, based on a 7.5-tonne gross weight Iveco chassis, to check out some of the operational advantages of running satellites. What I took for a side alley of no significant importance beside the police station suddenly becomes a rollercoaster ride of epic proportions. There was just enough room for the unit to squeeze down the space between the buildings around the old town square (hitting the side of the local police station is not a good idea!) and, within seconds, we were plunging down a steep 25% gradient seemingly suitable only for four-wheel drives. After stopping to load containers at a number of farm houses and roadside cottages along the floor of the valley, the road suddenly ended at a small farm. A complete U-turn was no real problem with this compact truck, but it would have been extremely hard work with a full-sized RCV. And getting back up the valley side to the main highway? Even if a low crawler gear would have made it technically possible with a larger machine, that police station wall would have presented a major obstacle! After a drive up the valley, it was rendezvous time for a satellite and mother ship in the midday quiet of a little mountainside town square. Another Farid/Iveco Minipac Mk2 and a three-axle, rear-steer 26-tonne Farid T2 (also on an Iveco chassis) pulled into the square within minutes of each other. The operation began. Rendezvous. With one Minipac Mk2 unit emptied and ready to return to duty, the next fully laden unit arrives. When that has transferred its load and gone back to work, the 26- tonne gross weight Farid T2 RCV will travel back down the valley I was assured that the whole operation could normally be achieved within 10 minutes, but with a foreign journalist taking photos? Clearly honour was at stake as great care was taken to ensure as little waste as possible ended up in the town square. But even if it took 10 minutes longer due to me asking for the process to be stopped while I took more pictures, logistically it made far more sense to me than running several laden trucks down the same valley road, and all the way back up again empty. The verdict: This system might not be suitable everywhere, but I was left with the impression that it could be worthy of much wider acceptance generally, and certainly where mountains or obstructions to larger vehicles are a problem.

When unloading, the ejector plate compensates for the shape of the loading
hopper (which has a lower floor height than the main body), ensuring the load
is ejected straight out of the loading hopper aperture. Why is this necessary?
Think about it ¿ as soon as the loading hopper of a conventional RCV is raised
for load discharge, a large pile of waste and a considerable amount of leachate
are often deposited on the ground. In contrast, there is very little, if any,
potential for spillage with a `through-thehopper¿ design ¿ or, at least, that¿s
the theory!

But what about the binlifter? That is the really clever bit. It¿s not only
synchronized so as to not interfere with the packing plate, but it also drops
clear of the hopper when the hinged portion of the tailgate is lowered.

OPERATIONAL BENEFITS

What are the operational benefits of using the satellite¿mother ship system?
With such a large choice of satellite vehicle options available, units can be
tailored to the number of premises they have to visit during a typical shift.
If that sounds like I¿m just stating the obvious, then the reality, as Marco
Orrechia of Farid explained to me, is often quite complex.

The operational area could be a conventional industrial city with an historic
old quarter where large RCVs, historic buildings and tourists don¿t mix too
well. Or it could be any town or city anywhere in the world where parked cars,
narrow streets and clearly defined neighbourhoods make it hard to plan for a
design for a conventional waste collection round. Thanks to a global trend to
specify ever larger conventional RCVs with three or sometimes even four axles,
there might be technically enough payload potential to work either two full
loads a shift or, if you¿re lucky, just one. But life is rarely that simple.
Two full loads a shift is fine. The crews have to eat, so if the journey to
the waste transfer site or landfill can coincide with the lunch break, then
at least an intermediate trip provides the crew with a break, while still ensuring
operational efficiency.

But what if your conventional RCVs got caught in traffic earlier in the week,
resulting in additional, wasted journeys in order to go back to finish off the
previous day¿s round? Or worse, vehicles continually return to tip for the second
time with just half a load on board? It¿s an increasingly common problem and,
while it would be easy to say that you¿re running the wrong size of RCV for
that particular round, could a complex mix of different-sized conventional RCVs
be justified? The answer is probably not.

SUITABLE FOR RECYCLING?

Again, most of this `theory¿ is common practice. It¿s part of what makes the
job of running a fleet of waste collection vehicles such a demanding, but vital,
task. But there¿s a new consideration to add to the equation ¿ one that might
give you the chance you need to re-evaluate the way the job is currently done.
With all waste collection authorities now focusing increasingly on waste reduction
techniques to tackle the mountains of waste going to landfill, it¿s clear that
the make-up of domestic waste is set to change dramatically over the next decade
as a greater proportion of recyclable materials is removed from the waste stream.

Will the tonnage of waste ¿ less all the recyclable materials ¿ be markedly
less? Will what is collected be more dense and heavier per cube? And what¿s
the best way of picking up the recycled materials? Will it be with a parallel
fleet of specialist, dedicated vehicles as has largely been the perceived wisdom
to date? Or by specifying versatile, compact vehicles capable of one or two
person operation and able to gain access to as many households as possible?

Units can be tailored to the number of premises they have to visit

And because none of us really knows exactly how the whole business of recycling
will develop in the future, would not a range of low-cost units, easily replaced
should the picture change, be preferable to a fleet of more expensive, dedicated
units with a 10- year payback? The evidence provided by the low fleet utilization
figures of current dedicated recyclable materials collection vehicles might
suggest the answer to that question is a decisive `maybe¿!

So could the concept of the satellite¿mother ship, originally designed for
domestic waste collection, also be applied to the collection of recyclable materials?
Again, while it¿s early days, the answer seems to be: why not? Look at the evidence.
There¿s no real need for a continuous compaction cycle when picking up  recyclable
materials, though a simple `packer¿ does enhance payload potentials. The satellite
unit has that feature.

The manual lifting and sorting of recyclable materials can be dangerous, cause
repetitive strain injuries and, perhaps just as importantly, sorting and loading
manually at the kerbside takes a lot of time and can make a mess. A container
loader system and With the rear air suspension `dumped¿, the waste transfer
process is almost ready to take place the use of wheeled containers make it
much easier. The satellite unit has such a capability.

And thirdly? If you have regular rainfall, you¿ll likely to be faced with an
increasing tonnage of green waste. Composting programmes are the final piece
in the recycling jigsaw, but collecting green waste without producing trails
of leachate down residential streets is a problem on several levels. The satellite
unit is designed from the outset to be leachate-free.

Does all this suggest a promising future for such machines? Certainly Marco
Orrechia hopes so, but so too does Stephanie Dromard-Tamm of French manufacturer
Provence Bennes and the team at Italian manufacturer Project Car ¿ a company
with a wide range of compaction equipment, which has previously concentrated
on bulkers and container compaction systems. Greek manufacturer Spider is, in
many ways, leading the northward invasion of what might still be seen as an
essentially southern European tool.

As confirmed by previous trials carried out by Waste Management World,
even the ultimate satellite unit ¿ the Scalvenzi MCU ¿ also works well for collection
of recycled materials. This confirms the idea that small, compact vehicles working
on a district or neighbourhood level and tipping into larger units do indeed
have a promising future on recycling operations as well as normal household
waste collections.

 

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