Valoriza Medioambiente, Spain’s leading environmental services company won a new contract to provide waste collection services to the municipality of Barakaldo during 2018. This town in the Biscay province is situated on the left bank of Bilbao estuary. It is home to a population of one hundred thousand people. Valoriza commenced operating the new waste collection service from the March 14, 2019 and has bought seven new environmentally friendly waste collection vehicles from GeesinkNorba Spain to provide the service.
Three of the new collection vehicles feature GeesinkNorba’s proven GPMIV series LI-On Power hybrid rear loading units. These comprise the 12m3 12L22 unit complete with GeesinkNorba’s GCB 1000 S3 bin lifting equipment. This has DIN type trunnion lifting arms fitted for the emptying of DIN 30700 type containers and a comb bar for the emptying of DIN 30740 type containers.
The advantages of the LI-On Power hybrid units are that they use a lithium-ion battery which powers the compaction mechanism/tailgate and bin lifting equipment. This gives a noiseless waste collection operation. Furthermore, the battery only weighs 600kgs which increases the unit’s net payload carrying capacity. The battery has 72 volts and is recharged whilst the vehicle is in operation by the vehicle’s electric power takeoff (ePTO). The battery only needs recharging once a week by an electrical connector at the parking facility to maintain the battery’s lifespan.
All three units are also fitted with Geesinknorba’s renowned ‘Smartpack’ system. This uses the minimum amount of combustible from the vehicle’s pump to operate the bin lift and compaction equipment, which obviously improves combustible consumption.
The new units are mounted onto compressed natural gas (CNG) powered Iveco Stralis AD190S33/P Euro 6 powered 4×2 18 tonne chassis. Choosing CNG power helped reduce vehicle emissions. To ease driver fatigue, these vehicles feature Allison’s 3200R automatic transmission. This also helps in reducing maintenance costs in replacing clutches when a manual transmission would have conventionally been used.
In addition to these units, Valoriza has also purchased four 26m3 AMS CL1-E 26 electric powered side loader units from GeesinkNorba Spain. The units feature an electric-actuated pump enabling the driver to ‘pack on the run’, clearing the charge box for fresh waste to be collected while on the move. To prevent debris scatter, each of the units has been fitted with hydraulically closing roof doors to prevent waste escaping whilst traveling on the collection route and to the waste treatment plant. These units produce little noise so no emissions are produced which is environmentally friendly. Mounted onto CNG powered Iveco Stralis AD260S33 YPS Euro 6 powered 6×2 rear steer 26-ton chassis they feature Allison’s 3200R automatic transmission.
The new rear-loading collection trucks are manned with a driver and one crew member. They collect two waste fractions: organic waste in 800-liter four-wheeled containers, and non-recyclable waste in 1000 liter four-wheeled containers. The two-man crew place the 800 and 1000 litre containers onto the GCB 1000 S3 bin lifting equipment to be emptied and then return them to their communal collection point. The rear loader collection operative wears a bicycle helmet while traveling on the rear footboards of the collection vehicle.
The new side loading collection trucks are manned with driver only, which helps to reduce operating costs. These empty 2400 liter containers which contain both non-recyclable waste and waste paper and cardboard. The 2400 liter side loading containers have a foot bar to open them. The paper/cardboard containers have an envelope type aperture in the lid for people to slide in paper/cardboard recyclables.
The collection of non-recyclable waste is carried out seven days a week. Six days of the week, the collection is carried out at night from 10.30pm to 5.30am. There is no night waste collection service on a Saturday night but, instead, the service is carried out at 7am on Sunday morning. The collection of organic waste is carried out twice a week (Thursday and Friday) and during the day, as is the collection of paper/cardboard, but this is on a daily basis.
All of the trucks are GIS/GPS tracked so management knows where vehicles are in real-time. The software measures the vehicle’s speed and course. The software provides details of the time the rear and side-load containers have been emptied and the waste weight. This software helps Valoriza improve the efficiency of the waste collection routes, and collect data of the dairy operation. The data is also sent to Barakaldo municipality to show them in real-time that all the containers have been emptied, and their weight
The non-recyclable waste is delivered to the Zalbalgarbi waste-to-energy incineration plant near Bilbao. Each of Valoriza’s new trucks delivers two loads of waste to the plant during the night. The plant treats all of Barakaldo’s waste as well as waste from another one hundred towns and villages within the Bizkaia province. The waste-to-energy plant began operation in 2005 and processes 230,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste a year. It produces 650GWh of electricity used to provide power to the Bizkaia province.
The organic waste fraction is delivered to a controlled biological oxidation process treatment plant for converting into compost. The recyclable paper and card is delivered to a storage facility in Barakaldo for transporting to a paper processor.
In conclusion, Valoriza Medioambiente provides a high-quality waste collection service for the citizens living in Barakaldo. The use of the latest low emission vehicles to provide the waste collection service will help to improve the environment for many years to come.