The Kliko Terberg Zijlader (sideloader) system
Already in operation in a number of European cities, the KTZ system has several major advantages over existing waste collection systems and one big disadvantage – it doesn’t come cheap.
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| Harry Achterberg of Kliko |
Let’s explore that ‘disadvantage’ first and get it out of the way, because what we should be looking at here are the advantages. The disadvantage is that, as the KTZ system was designed to incorporate several big advances in waste and recyclable materials collection technology, it requires a ‘fully integrated’ plan to install it.
In other words, the key card technology used in the ‘receptors’, the GPS-linked container sites, the containers themselves and even the automatic sequence side-loading collection trucks have all been designed to work together. And as such they are unique to the KTZ system. Nothing else currently at work in your city’s waste collection fleet will be of any use. So existing fleets will need to be replaced in order to gain the most in terms of efficiency. And however you cut it, that’s going to be expensive.
Making the decision to install the KTZ system is one that will be taken at the highest level, as it will involve considerable planning, investment and a not insignificant amount of disruption while being installed. Is it worth it? To judge that, it’s essential to put aside everything you currently know about the waste business and approach the KTZ system with a fresh pair of eyes and an open mind. It theory, it sounds complex, but following an extensive briefing by technical staff at Dutch equipment manufacturer Terberg and those working for Kliko, the waste container manufacturer partner in the project, I’m now in the Belgian city of Antwerp to see how the KTZ system works in ‘real life’.
Let’s start by looking at the various elements that go to make up ‘the system’. One of the main reasons for considering it in the first place is that it offers underground waste container storage and handling capability. In other words, all the unpleasant elements that residents currently have to look at everyday are taken away and buried in purpose-built sealed concrete ‘silos’. These silos each contain one 3 m3 container and feature a hydraulic ram-operated hinged metal lid. On that is mounted the receptor, into which residents place their waste or recyclable materials. These receptors are available in different designs and can be colour-coded (or labelled) to indicate what materials can be deposited in them.
Collection ‘on demand’
The key point here is that each container – several are normally sited together in a ‘nest’ – has a specifically designated waste stream. In effect this means that residents are segregating each waste stream at source, making collection and disposal much easier as no further sorting of each waste stream should be required. Typically, there will be four or five containers located together – with one each for residual household waste, packaging materials and/or paper, cardboard, glass and plastics. Because the containers are well-sealed, the KTZ installation could include a food waste container as well. In addition, because the container installations are ‘intelligent’ and can be ‘interrogated’ to ascertain how full they are without the silo lid having to be lifted, the normal problem of estimating collection periods between each visit from the collection vehicle can be made ‘on demand’.
As a result, considerable time can be saved by cutting out visits to containers that are not yet full. It is the ‘intelligent data collection’ aspect of the KTZ system that, while adding to the initial purchase and installation costs, should play a major role in saving money once in service. And because an ‘historical’ map can be made of each container loading pattern (through the data from each resident’s personal key card, the total number of visits, the weight of waste deposited in each receptor and the weight of each full container as recorded on the collection truck), it should be possible to not only plan the optimum collection frequency (so only full containers are lifted), but also to use the collected data to plot waste volumes in each district, to calculate recycling percentage ratios and, ultimately, to determine the capacity of any new waste handling facility required in future.
‘Pay-per-visit’ technology
These benefits are vital in helping to plan for the future, but the technology developed by Terberg and its partner in the KTZ project, Kliko, was actually developed for a more controversial purpose – to facilitate a faster, easier collection system that could be operated by one person, i.e. the collection truck driver. Yes, in cities with a high unemployment level, replacing a large crew of loaders with automatic machinery is controversial. But even more of an issue is that the data collection capability was designed to make it possible to charge residents for each visit they make to a waste receptor.
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| The Terberg side-loading collection vehicle is lined up beside the KTZ silo ready for the hydraulic-electric silo lid to be raised. Note the safety bars to prevent pedestrians getting too close |
‘Pay-by-weight’ (or ‘pay-as-you-throw’) technology has been seized on by some in our industry as the only way forward because it enables city authorities to charge families who choose not to reduce their total output by recycling. While installing chips on each conventional waste container gives a reasonable picture, the KTZ system has the advantage of knowing exactly which residents in any community are recycling and which ones are not. But as Harry Achterberg of Kliko explains, the data collection capability of the KTZ system can be a vital management tool even in cities where collection costs are met out of local taxes. ‘In addition to providing a detailed picture of the tonnages deposited in each container, the individual key card helps prevent vandalism and by presenting a clean, modern image, we’re convinced it will make it easier to keep the surrounding areas free from fly-tipped material, as well as reducing infestation of flies and rodents in residential areas,’ he explained.
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| Loader arms lift the special container vertically to avoid spillage. Unlike the bottom-dump containers used in some systems, KTZ containers are leak-proof |
That’s the container installation explained, so how about the mechanics of the system? To find out more, I was invited to go out with the installation team from Kliko and Terberg as they put the final touches to the installation in the historic Belgian port of Antwerp. By the time you read this, the system will have gone ‘live’ following initial trials in selected districts. It was worth the visit.
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| The loader arms tip the container directly into the loading hopper. There is a ‘sideshift’ facility to ensure the arms engage squarely onto the container so as to avoid the need to reposition the truck if it is not parked squarely onto the silo |
Obviously, the number (or frequency) of container ‘nests’ depends on the density of housing, but one of the toughest neighbourhoods in which to collect domestic waste has to be high-rise apartment blocks where normal containers are subject to vandalism. But equally difficult is getting a waste collection vehicle into narrow ‘old quarter’ city centre streets where apartments, shops and small businesses are all mixed together without causing disruption to residents or tourists.
Live in Antwerp
It’s in both these scenarios where the KTZ system performs well. I visited a typical 1960s housing development close to the port area that is now home to the poorer elements of Antwerp residents (many of whom are elderly) and more recent waves of immigrants. As such developments tend to house a disproportionate number of unemployed, they’re often doubly difficult to keep clean and tidy. So it was interesting to note the KTZ containers were being used as intended, the area was clean and tidy, and as Harry Achterberg explained, even though a ‘pay-by-visit’ regime was used in Antwerp, those who were unemployed or on low incomes were not excluded as special ‘credits’ could be loaded onto their key cards as part of benefit payments. Equally, of course, ‘rewards’ or discounts on local property taxes could be devised to incentivize greater recycling.
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| The KTZ system is designed for pay-by-weight regimes, but key card controlled receptors can be used free of charge by poor or elderly residents by adding credits to the card. Kliko technology also measures the weight of waste deposited at each visit. |
A key aspect of the KTZ system is that each container is used for a specific designated waste stream. I note that today we’re collecting residual household waste with the 26-tonne three axle side-loading collection truck. Based on a Paccar DAF chassis with a steering non-driven rearmost axle, it’s still a big truck in the narrow roads in this neighbourhood. But as all the driver has to do is get alongside the hinged silo lid in each installation, it’s an easier job that reversing into numerous courtyards where traditional 1100-litre wheeled containers would typically be found.
Terberg claims that each container cab be accessed, lifted, emptied and returned back into its silo within 3–3.5 minutes. That might not sound especially fast, but as I was to discover, it is a semi-automated process. And as the kerbside silos can be protected by ‘no parking’ signs, it should make the collection round (route) much easier to plan. So let’s run through the procedure...
All the controls on the electronic panel in the truck cab are ‘sequential’ in that each one has to be completed before the next can be activated. The first job is to drop three jackleg stabilizers that in effect ‘lock’ the truck chassis to the highway. This seems to take quite a while and needs doing for each separate ‘lift’, but as each fully-loaded container can weigh up to two tonnes – to which has to be added the considerable extra weight of the twin loading arms – the stabilizers are essential for stability. With the legs down, the extendable safety barriers fitted onto the truck (to prevent residents falling into the open silo) are dropped down and the loader arms lowered from the transit position. After that, a telescopic ‘probe’ is activated to provide the electrical power via the truck’s own 24-volt supply to lift the silo lid. With the silo lid raised, the twin loader arms are positioned above two slots in the top edge of each container and once located – thanks to a bank of CCTV cameras outside and high resolution screens in the truck cab – the ISO twistlocks are activated.
So, what happens if the locks haven’t engaged correctly? Nothing – load sensing built into the arms prevents them being lifted. With the green light showing on the control panel, I can move onto the next operation which is to lift the loaded container up into the hopper mounted behind the cab. Expecting this to be the hard part, I was impressed to find that not only is the entire process automatic from here on in, but the system remembers the return path, so the container pops straight back into the silo without the need to ‘jiggle’, crash, or bang it against the side of the silo. Incidentally, if the technology does go wrong, a manual step-by-step control panel enables the driver to over-ride the automatic safety interlocks. With the container back in its silo, all that’s needed is to close the lid, fold the arms into transit mode, close the hinged lid over the loading hopper, retract the jacks and drive to the next ‘nest’.
Conclusions
The KTZ system needs its own special containers and, while it uses a side-loading collection vehicle that at first glance looks like any other, in practice those special ISO twistlock-equipped loader arms are also unique. But underground ‘silos’ are not essential. In locations where excavation isn’t possible, a ground level – but still secure – alternative can be specified using the same container design. This might sound like a contradiction, but it does at least enable a city-wide switchover to be made without incurring the entire cost of installation in the first year.
Why might your city want to ‘go underground’? The ability to gather data and provide an anti-vandal environment is ideal in residential areas, while the advantages of hiding waste containers out-of-sight in downtown areas where business people and tourists don’t have to see them could have considerable financial benefits in attracting more visitors to any ‘old quarter’ – and ensuring they return. The containers also offer considerable improvement to waste collection in markets and other large civic venues.
In addition to the new installation in Antwerp, KTZ installations are also working in the Belgian city of Mechelen, Winterswijk in Holland, Dublin in Ireland and Ljubljana in Slovenia. It seems the underground movement is growing...
Malcolm Bates is collection & transport correspondent for Waste Management World.
e-mail: wmw@pennwell.com">wmw@pennwell.com
