Merging systems

The amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) the United States has generated and disposed of has increased every year since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) first collected data on the topic in the early 1960s.

So, too, though, has the nation’s recycling rate, which has climbed from 6.4 percent in 1960 to 34.5 percent in 2012.

On average, Americans recycled and composted 1.51 pounds out of the 4.38 pounds of MSW generated per person per day in 2012, according to the EPA.

Over the last few decades, the EPA says the generation, recycling, composting and disposal of MSW have changed substantially.

As Americans continue to generate more MSW—nearly 251 million tons of trash in 2012, a hike from the 88.1 million tons generated in 1960—and more recyclables, equipment manufacturers are designing machines to satisfy a variety of user specifications, including handling greater volumes and more mixed materials as well as offering energy efficiency and flexibility.

To accomplish these improvements, some manufacturers, including Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Heil Environmental, have introduced new approaches designed to improve the efficiency of collecting MSW and recyclables.

Heil, along with Marathon, Bayne and Curotto-Can Co., make up the Environmental Solutions Group (ESG), which refers to itself as a fully integrated equipment group serving the solid waste and recycling industry.

ESG’s May 2013 acquisition of Curotto-Can Co. helped the company produce a lighter-in-weight, purpose-built, dual-route residential and commercial automatic front loader, the Odyssey, says Ken Beaver, director of the mobile products group for ESG.
 

Integrated system

The Curotto-Can is an attachment for front-loading collection trucks, which are commonly used to service commercial accounts, that features an automatic arm with a 5-foot reach, converting the truck into a residential collection vehicle.

Beaver says the idea for the Curotto-Can hailed from third-generation, Sonoma, California-based hauler John Curotto, who devised the time- and fuel-saving technology after years of frustration from working with existing industry equipment. As a hauler, he was dealing with the constraint of accepting a front loader as the way manufacturers had traditionally built them, Beaver explains.

“Manufacturers didn’t make equipment to satisfy his needs, so he created it,” Beaver says of Curotto. “John had to figure out how to build the Curotto-Can to work with the automatic front loader.”

There is a “rapid shift” in the market from side loaders to front loaders for residential collection, Beaver says. And the Odyssey’s option to remove the Curotto-Can in less than five minutes without the use of tools allows customers to use a front loader for both residential and commercial collection with less employee training, fewer spare parts, more flexibility and greater standardization among their fleets, he says.

Beaver says Heil engineers envisioned an integrated system between the Curotto-Can and what would be the Odyssey. “The essence of the Odyssey was to look at an automatic front loader as an integrated system and how we [could] make that system operate as one.”

Heil sought feedback from its customers to complete such a system, Beaver says, and these insights led to features the developers had not previously considered.

The effects on the operator of using two joysticks inside the vehicle, for example, did not occur to engineers; however, operators expressed that a single joystick would lessen their risk of mistakes and provide more maneuverability.

In addition to its single, multifunction joystick, Odyssey features AutoLift, which enables the operator to lift the Curotto-Can and dump it into the truck body’s hopper with the push of a button.

“Customers were able to describe to us in great detail the way to set that system up more ergonomically for them,” Beaver says.

He continues, “The single joystick and AutoLift function, all of these things came out of the thought that we should look at this unit as a single system because that’s how the customer looks at it.”

At an April 1, 2014, press event hosted in Chattanooga by ESG for Odyssey’s launch, Curotto said the front loader is more productive than a side loader because it is capable of packing the Curotto-Can 80 times per day on residential routes compared with a side-loader collection truck that can pack its hopper up to 500 times per day. Curroto said by doing more work using less energy, operators can expect to see 18 to 20 percent in fuel savings.

Beaver explains how residential collection haulers who use side loaders have to lift the bin overhead into the hopper at each stop, while users of the Curotto-Can can dump the unit into the truck’s hoop every 12 carts or so, up to 20 bins.

The loading cycle also is shortened in the Odyssey, with each stop reduced from the average 12 to 18 seconds for a side loader to Odyssey’s four-to-five seconds. This 10 percent reduced cycle time when dumping into the hopper saves shaking and stress on the mechanical system, he says.

“With the development of the Odyssey and integrating between the body itself and the Curotto-Can, we make it more comfortable for operators using that system.”
 

Looking ahead

Operator comfort was considered when developing the Odyssey, emphasizing another benefit of a front loader over a side loader for residential collection, according to Beaver.

Drivers of front loaders are constantly staring straight ahead, keeping their eyes forward at all times, while operators of side loaders always have their work happening behind their shoulders, he says.

Beaver explains that a typical day for operators of a side-loader residential collection truck involves turning their heads many times daily, possibly 1,000 times, for five days each week. “It really does create fatigue on the human body,” Beaver says, adding, “and when people get fatigued, they make mistakes.”

Operators also are less likely to make mistakes when the work occurs in front of them as they easily can see activity out of their windshields, from a resident collecting a can to unexpected roadway traffic.

As a result of looking ahead to see their work, operators are able to make their routes more efficient by preventing contaminated materials from being mixed in with the entire load as well as collecting more recyclable material, such as old corrugated containers (OCC), according to Heil. In some instances, large pieces of cardboard, especially from electronics and household appliances, do not fit into a 95-gallon cart and are instead stored next to the bin for collection.

“Operators are able to collect cardboard more efficiently,” Beaver claims. He says haulers can easily get out of the cab as needed, grab large pieces of cardboard and throw the material in the Curotto-Can, which also can help to control contamination since he is able to see and retrieve any hazardous or unwanted materials before they enter the load.

Another troublesome spot for residential collection trucks, cul-de-sacs, are now easier to maneuver as well, Beaver points out. Because Odyssey’s Curotto-Can is placed over the front axle, the automatic arm does not have to reach up to 12 feet, lengths that some collection trucks reach to obtain bins, Beaver says.

He says Odyssey might have to back up one time in a cul-de-sac, whereas a standard side loader might need to back up three or four times to successfully exit such a neighborhood. “Not only is that unproductive, any time a garbage truck is backing up, that’s always a safety concern.

“Odyssey’s work is out over the front axle, so the geometry works much better in cul-de-sacs,” Beaver says.

Finally, a refined hydraulic and electronic control system now requires less maintenance than previous systems, eliminates 22 fittings to reduce leak points and includes no proximity switches or deceleration valves, all while removing 120 pounds over the front axle, resulting in more fuel savings, the company says.
 

Synergy setup

Odyssey offers a compressed natural gas (CNG) option with Heil’s introduction of its CNrG (pronounced synergy) tailgate fuel delivery system. CNG often offers improved fuel efficiency relative to diesel fuel, some industry experts say.

As Heil explains, CNrG integrates CNG tanks, which typically have been found on the roof of a refuse collection truck or along the frame rails, into the truck’s tailgate. This placement shifts the weight distribution to the rear of the truck and reduces the truck’s overall height by 12 inches when compared with a roof-mounted system, the company says. Additionally, the tailgate placement allows a truck to carry between 45 and 105 DGEs (diesel gallon equivalents) without using a split system, Beaver says.

He notes that CNG tanks require about four times the space as diesel fuel tanks on collection trucks, which has been an industry issue. “The challenge was: How do we create this storage capacity without increasing the wheelbase or height of the garbage truck?” Beaver adds, “For a while it seemed impossible, like asking someone to walk on water.”

Heil’s solution to this problem is CNrG, which follows the truck’s curved contour and does not include an increase in height, he says, though it does add 19 inches to the tailgate.

Beaver adds that CNG fuel is “rapidly gaining popularity” in the United States over diesel fuel.

“Aesthetically the CNrG is attractive; if you look closely, you won’t notice there is CNG on the truck,” Beaver says.

There’s an additional benefit apart from aesthetics, he says. “Now you’ve improved your weight distribution by putting that weight on the back.”

The author is associate editor of Recycling Today and can be contacted via email at mworkman@gie.net.

Winning wraps
The city of Lakeland, Florida, used student artwork to adorn its new single-stream collection trucks: www.RecyclingToday.com/rt0814-residential-collection.aspx.