Sustainability in the Material Handling Industry

If not already developed, your company has likely begun to develop some sort of a green initiative. The conventional wisdom of doing things good for the environment and good for the bottom line is sometimes difficult to achieve. Now, thanks to the application of high density compaction and innovative technology, that’s all changing in the field of waste material handling and solid waste removal.

Through high density compaction and automated dispatching of waste haulers, it is possible to reduce transportation operations by an average of 40% or more. Such results are possible by fixing the problem at the source….the waste compactor. By improving the performance efficiency of waste compactor management so that only maximum loaded compactor containers are picked up, enormous improvements and savings are possible.

This is especially important because waste removal trucks are among the least efficient vehicles on the road. But as it turns out, the easiest solution to reducing costs and the carbon footprint of the waste process is with the waste compactor, not the truck. A high density compactor with a monitoring system from SP Industries is your best solution. An automated monitoring system actually watches how the high density compactor container is filling, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When a “full container” is sensed, the waste hauler is automatically notified by the monitor. In real world experience, this results in an average of 40% fewer trips by the waste hauler, and reducing the fuel consumption, air pollution, and carbon footprint of these trucks by 40%!

Many waste compactor users find it almost impossible to consistently know when a compactor’s container is ready for pickup. Because businesses are often concerned about calling the hauler too late, they rely on regularly scheduled waste pickups, or guess when to call for a pickup based on such unreliable measures as pressure gauges and indicator lights. These practices result in compactor containers being picked up too frequently, often with only 5,000# to 6,000# payloads when they should be 15,000# to 20,000# payloads.

Like an out-of-tune car or truck engine, an inadequate or malfunctioning compactor is incredibly wasteful. Improper pressure settings or faulty gauges can fool workers into calling for a pickup when the container is just half full. The added pollution that results, as well as the added expense, can be much more significant than is at first apparent. High density compaction is able to greatly improve waste stream efficiency and document results, because it is a complete, fully automated monitoring solution. State-of-the-art sensing technology, on-board intelligence and embedded software are fully configurable to the needs of the individual user.

Fewer truck pickups equate to fewer miles driven, which means fewer trucks are needed to service the same number of customers. That also means that truck maintenance is reduced proportionately. So, reducing these factors is an added bonus.

Perhaps the most attractive aspect of utilizing these types of systems is that on a purchase basis, the system typically pays back in 9 months or less. After that, it continues to generate major savings. Contact an SP representative today to find out more about how to significantly reduce operating expenses and cut your carbon footprint.

Welcome to Sustainable Compaction!

As the second quarter of 2012 begins, SP has an exciting new product announcement! We are pleased to introduce the first line of industrial, electro-mechanical compactors completely absent of hydraulic fluid. 

These ground-breaking compactors utilize a solid steel screw shaft powered by an electric motor that pushes the ram through the compaction chamber.  This eliminates the potential for hydraulic fluid spills in and around customer facilities providing contamination-free operation in all applications and for all industries.  The new EM Series frees up floor space by removing the need for bulky power units used with traditional compactors.  Also, a built-in grease system automatically lubricates the shaft and the motor remains protected by a soft-start system and full-load indicator to prevent surges or overamping. 

As with all of our equipment, the EM Series is completely customizable and can be integrated into most of our systems alongside our specialty dumpers, chutes, and decks.  You can find the EM Series specifications sheet here.

We anticipate the release of the EM Series to have a big impact on our industry and encourage you to contact us with your questions or concerns!

SP Reduces Waste Costs for Weber Packaging by 20% !

Creating fuel out of waste provides an incredible benefit to the environment and oftentimes your pocket book.  Weber Packaging Solutions found this out when they recently launched a new operation that helps convert its former label waste into fuel instead of landfill fodder.

Weber makes pressure-sensitive labels for use by both industrial and consumer goods companies. The firm annually produces more than 1,500 tons of paper and synthetic waste as a byproduct of its label manufacturing and printing operation inside its 320,000-sq-ft facility.

Weber then needed to determine a reasonable means of collecting its label waste and transporting it 200 miles to the Pellet America plant that is able to transform non-recyclable paper and synthetic waste into pellets that are used as an industrial fuel source.

For this Weber turned to our NP-165 scrap-loading system designed to pack paper waste into semi trailers.  This machine has been successfully integrated at several newspaper printing facilities across the United States to load (via compaction) over the road semi trailer with up to 40,000 pounds of scrap Old Newsprint (ONP).  At Weber, this system will allow the company to redirect 99 percent of their annual label waste from the landfill, and repurpose it as raw material for fuel pellets.  They will also be able to reduce their waste disposal expenses by nearly 20 percent, including the cost of using semi-trailers to transport their material.

Let us know how your organization has made their material handling practices more sustainable by commenting on this post.  Also, you can get a no obligation evaluation of your current system and how we can increase efficiency and boost saving for you by visiting:   http://www.sp-industries.com/costCalculator.cfm

Metal Recycling Compactors

Recycling scrap metal is an enormous business in the United States.  From the 56 billion aluminum cans recycled in 2010, to the millions of tons of ferrous and non-ferrous metals sorted, sheared, shredded, torched and baled at processing plants, the metal recycling business is booming. Compactors play an important role in this recycling process because achieving higher density during compaction equates to larger loads that can be transported from processing plants to steel mills.  The higher the density, the more money that processors save in transportation.

SP makes long lasting, fast cycling pre-crushers and metal compactors designed to maximize the efficiency and reliability.  Our systems can include fluid collection systems designed to separate oil from metal turnings and chips.  Also, our closed compaction containers eliminate the potential for ground water contamination in and around metal processing areas.   Most importantly, our equipment is backed by the best warranty in the industry and our engineers can address any site-specific installation concerns.

A great resource with information on all of our metal compaction equipment is our metal recycling catalog. You can also visit SP online at sp-industries.com for more information about metal compaction and equipment specifications.  And we would love to hear your experience with metal recycling by replying to this post or contacting us on Facebook or Twitter.