05/05/2001

revolution™ Providing ‘outstanding innovation in waste management’

A revolution TM waste processor from ET2 Limited has not only resolved the waste management concerns at Minor Weir and Willis Ltd. in Birmingham, but has recently been cited in an internal assessment by a leading UK auditor as: ‘exceeding the remit of most procurement functions in demonstrating outstanding innovation concerning waste management.’

Minor Weir and Willis is a leading importer specialising in the delivery of fresh exotic produce to the UK’s top multiple supermarkets. “The revolution TM has shaved 30% off landfill costs by creating dryer, more compact waste. Further ‘difficult to cost’ savings are achieved due to a worthwhile 20% reduction in the frequency of skip collections. In fact, all the savings in the waste management audit are based on the revolution TM installation.” says John Edwards, Purchasing Executive for Minor, Weir and Willis.

Fresh Produce is delivered daily to Minor, Weir and Willis from all over the world in cartons and expanded polystyrene (EPS) boxes loaded onto pallets. Prior to the introduction of the revolution TM, the discarded packaging was hand placed into an open 35 cu yd Ro Ro container and compacted. The EPS boxes had to be hand cut before they were deposited into an open container. This was a labour intensive process that was both time consuming and costly.

“With year on year growth we had to find a more efficient and economical way of handling all the various types of waste being generated throughout the company,” states John Edwards.

ET2 resolved the company’s waste management difficulties by supplying a specially developed unit based on their standard revolution TM 2000 series. The 2000/15 fitted with an extended hopper allows waste to be loaded directly from a docking bay so that it can be discharged directly into the Ro-Ro container. Integral to the 2000/15 is a liquid extraction system that successfully removes all fruit and vegetable pulp from the compressed packaging and automatically washes and deodorises the interior of the machine. Minor Weir and Willis produce around 20 tonnes of mixed waste a week; since the introduction of the revolution TM, container collections have reduced from 40 collections per month to 11 per month, with container payloads and efficiency being increased drastically.

‘The greater sophistication of the revolution TM compared to the static compactor we employed before means that we now make better use of our labour force on more productive tasks.” Adds John Edwards. “Waste handling and removal costs have dropped due to the density we can now achieve in each skip, and the site is now cleaner and more hygienic. Also with the rise in the practice of turning waste into energy, our extruded waste can become a profitable resource for the company in the future.”