Service Waste installs new shredder

Service Waste, based in Fort Worth, Texas, has halved its landfill costs, tripled throughput and boosted operator efficiency by 50 percent with its investment in a new Untha XR3000C stationary shredder. 

The family-owned company originally took delivery of the first Untha XR shedder to be commissioned in the USA about a decade ago. Over the years, the machine has processed an average of 480 tons of commercial, industrial and pallet waste per week, transforming locally collected residual materials into alternative fuel for the cement industry. 

According to the company, customer demand continued to rise in 2024, so Service Waste installed a new, larger 24-ton XR shredder. Following a one-week installation and testing period, the electric-driven machine is fully operational. 

The machine has a 9-foot-8-inch aperture and can handle a range of bulkier input materials, with the shredder configured to produce a 2¾-inch particle size. In-built resistance to foreign objects, such as rogue metal content, protects the machine from damage and ensures this material can be extracted with ease, according to the manufacturer. The result is a high-quality, homogenous and “on-specification” fraction that acts as a refuse derived fuel (RDF) for cement kilns. 

“We’ve worked hard to build the reputation of our multigeneration, family-run company, which has seen demand rise over the years,” Service Waste General Manager Robert Dunlap says. “But the sustainability buzz is growing, especially when it comes to energy recovery, which means we need to further bolster our capacity.” 

According to the company, the flexibility of the industrial shredder allows Service Waste to process more material streams in the future, with the ability to achieve different alternative fuel specifications to suit varied offtake requirements. 

“The existing XR was already processing more than double the volume of waste we’d first forecast, back in 2014, which saw us halve our landfill costs,” Dunlap says. “But wear and tear is inevitable with such a workhorse. With the new, bigger XR, we’ve tripled our throughput while reducing manpower requirements.” 

Service Waste maintains the Untha XR using internal resources and relies on Untha America for continued spare and wear parts. The Utha XR shredder has been shipped to another facility in the southeastern region of the United States for refurbishment and reuse. 

“When we made the decision to invest in a new machine, returning to UNTHA was a ‘no brainer,” Dunlap says. “Our criteria revolved around shredder durability, throughputs, uptime performance, operator safety, energy efficiency and ease of maintenance. The XR ticks all the boxes, a testament to its strength and reliability.”