Equipment Report

Safetech Expands into New Premises
Safetech, a U.K.-based manufacturer of automatic personnel protection equipment, has moved into new premises in Sunderland, England. The company manufactures the Guardian system designed to protect people working near conveyors and other potentially hazardous machinery.

“We decided to continue being based at Sunderland, in the northeast of England,” says Managing Director Robert Smith. “This central position in the U.K. has excellent transport links to Europe and America, which enable us to offer a rapid response to our many clients in those continents.”

The company says that in the last year the success of its latest product, Guardian, has led to a demand for additional manufacturing and office space. The new location not only provides more room for the expanding company but also offers energy cost savings, Safetech says.

Safetech was established in 1986. The company makes products and systems designed to protect people working near conveyors and other hazardous machinery. The company’s Guardian system uses technology to distinguish human beings from other objects, the company says. If anyone comes into the danger zone, for example by falling onto a conveyor or entering a hazardous area, Guardian switches off the machinery. According to Safetech, the system works even if the worker is unconscious or buried in material.

The latest Guardian system features a smaller control panel and what the company calls “extra fail-safes.” According to Safetech, one Guardian system can offer protection for several conveyors or other machinery, offering cost savings for customers. Guardian also can be configured to detect and protect workers in a wide range of circumstances, the company says, such as creating no-go zones: The Guardian system can tell the control hub where an operator is working and stop the machine before it arrives in that area.

Safetech systems are designed to safeguard workers in a wide range of processes, including applications in recycling facilities as well as in manufacturing sites.

iScrap Adds Auto Salvage Locations to Online Directory
IScrap App Inc., based in Rockaway, N.J., has added auto dismantling and salvage yards to its iScrap mobile app and online directory.

The new feature allows users to search for auto salvage companies in their region while also offering the option to request a specific car part or schedule an obsolete vehicle pickup from the auto salvage companies listed. The auto wrecker companies will receive all of the requests directly to their email inbox as part of a feature designed to give them the ability to quickly contact the customer.

“Two years into the launch of the iScrap App we started to see a need for more people to reach out to Auto Wreckers for car scrapping as well as salvage parts,” says Tom Buechel, creator of the iScrap app. “There was no good option that spanned the U.S. or Canada for people to request parts, so we look forward to connecting more people with auto wreckers.”

Additionally, the app’s home page has been redesigned to include updated profile listings with social sites and more metals, along with a simpler layout.

Numerex, Cascade Engineering Unite on Asset Management Product
Numerex Corp., an Atlanta-based provider of on-demand and interactive machine-to-machine enterprise solutions, and Cascade Engineering, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based manufacturer serving a wide range of markets, including solid waste and recycling, will be collaborating on the development and implementation of an asset management solution that targets the solid waste and recycling market.

The X-Tracker provides geographic visibility, tracking and management of remote assets such as roll-off containers. The system will combine Numerex’s supply chain management solution, which includes smart devices, intelligent network services and application framework built around Numerex’s FAST service delivery platform and Cascade’s Xtreme RFID business’s expertise in the design and manufacturing of rugged RFID tags.

“Our partnership with Numerex reflects our focus on integrated solutions and full-system approach to the waste and recycling market,” says Mike Lewis, head of Cascade’s Xtreme RFID business. “Through this innovative asset tracking solution, we not only collect data but also provide related in-depth analysis in order to efficiently guide our customers’ decisions.”

Detailed information and a wide range of metrics around the use of the assets are supplied through the use of the X-Tracker.

“Cascade’s commitment to deploying a comprehensive suite of products and services resonates well with our end-to-end strategy,” says Jeff Newman, senior vice president of business development at Numerex. “The insight and metrics that it provides allow customers to create value-added services while improving the productivity of their assets.”

LP to Showcase Two Products at WasteExpo
LP Wire Tie Systems (LPWT), Carthage, Mo., says it will be showcasing two automated containment systems that are designed for the recycling industry at the upcoming WasteExpo 2013 show, May 20-23, in New Orleans.

In addition to its newest baler wire-tying system, LPWT is spotlighting an automated bagging product.

The first of the two products to be featured at WasteExpo 2013 is the Pinnacle II tying system, designed to minimize downtime. According to LPWT, an operator can quickly and efficiently remove and replace 80 percent of the wear parts of the Pinnacle in less than five minutes by using LPWT’s patented CORE modular technology. The Pinnacle II includes a tying head that is fully serviceable from the front end and that can be disassembled in as little as 15 minutes. The unit is capable of handling bales of various sizes requiring 13 to 18.5 feet of wire per strap.

The second product is the company’s bagging system, which LPWT describes as “an automated bagging solution with fast cycle times for high-volume baling operations.”

LPWT will be at Booth No. 4369 at this year’s WasteExpo.

Magnatech Introduces Rapid Response Team, Service Hotline
Tonganoxie, Kan.-based Magnatech has introduced its Rapid Response Team and Shredder911 service hotline, resources designed to provide scrap yard operators with support and on-site troubleshooting for all major brands of automobile shredders, according to the company. The Magnatech Rapid Response Team (MRRT) is available through the Shredder911 line at 913-845-3553, ext. 911.

Magnatech President Michael Graveman says, “We’ve heard of operators being effectively put out of business for weeks or even months at a time after a shredder breakdown, so our Magnatech Rapid Response Team is literally available on a few hours’ notice to diagnose problems and handle shredder repairs.”

Enaptive to Introduce WasteRunner at WasteExpo
Enaptive Inc., a creator of asset and logistics management systems for companies in the scrap recycling and transportation sector, will launch its newest product, the WasteRunner, at the upcoming WasteExpo show in New Orleans, May 20-23.

The WasteRunner is a fully integrated container management and asset tracking system that has been designed for companies in the waste management industry, according to Enaptive. The WasteRunner module is based on the company’s ScrapRunner program, which is used by scrap metal recycling companies.

The WasteRunner program offers a range of features, including asset geocoding, automated dispatch and tracking and integration with scheduling program systems.

“We are proud to be offering our newest solution for operators in the waste industry,” says Paresh Hirapara, CEO of Enaptive, based in Jacksonville, Fla. “After several large operators came to us seeking help, we determined the need was there for us to focus on creating a custom solution that addresses the unique operational and management needs of the majority of waste operators.”

More information is available at www.wasterunner.com.

Toter Lands Contract with City of Tucson
Toter, a manufacturer of two-wheeled carts for recycling, waste and organics, has been awarded a national cooperative contract by the city of Tucson, Ariz., through the National Intergovernmental Purchasing Alliance (IPA).

Through the contract, Toter offers National IPA participants the ability to purchase refuse and recycling carts. The contract award is for three years with the option to extend to five years.

Toter, a division of Wastequip, held the previous cooperative contract with the city of Tucson for five years.

“The city of Tucson’s competitively solicited and awarded contract with Toter provides outstanding quality and exceptional value,” says Ken Heckman, vice president of National IPA.

Kobusch UK Expands PET Processing Capacity
Packaging company Kobusch, based in Warburg, Germany, has installed a new inline rPET (recycled polytheylene terepthalate) sheet system at its Stanley, U.K., facility. The system includes processing equipment from Erema Engineering Recycling Maschinen und Anlagen GmbH, Ansfelden, Austria, and extrusion equipment from SML Maschinen GmbH, based in Lenzing, Austria. The combined system will enable Kobusch UK to produce 100-percent-food-contact compliant rPET flat sheet, Erema says.

Kobusch is a division of private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, Inc.

“With this £3 million ($4.6 million) investment, Sun Capital has demonstrated its support for our plans for growth,” says Tony Mitchell, Kobusch UK Sales Director. “The new Erema system with SML downstream equipment will enable us to continue to increase the amount of postconsumer waste in our rPET production without sacrificing any quality in clarity in the thermoforming process.”

Kobusch UK, which has three locations in Great Britain, has been running a similar inline sheet system at its Livingston facility since 2007. The system is designed as an economical technology for direct, single-stage processing.

For the expansion, the company combined a Vacurema Basic 2016 T from Erema with a direct downstream thermoforming sheet system from SML.

The system will process postconsumer PET bottle flakes and Kobusch’s own production waste to produce food-contact-approved rPET sheet. Throughputs of up to 1,400 kilograms (3,090 pounds) per hour are expected. Erema says the Vacurema process decontaminates the PET, producing a food-contact-compliant rPET monolayer sheet.

“Thanks to the efficient decontamination of the flakes, Kobusch UK is even able to use the Vacurema to produce food-contact-grade sheet purely from rPET,” says Erema Co-CEO Manfred Hackl.