The UK's leading refuse collection vehicle manufacturer, Dennis Eagle, is playing a pivotal role in helping South Wales-based Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council radically drive forward its recycling and refuse collection programme.
Having elected to abolish its current kerbside collection scheme for dry recyclables, Merthyr Tydfil has recently taken delivery of four specialist Dennis Eagle Twin Pack recycling vehicles that formed part of an order for a total of seven new RCVs. Indeed this latest vehicle intake is at the centre of a new service infrastructure that the council is putting in place for the benefit of Merthyr's 26,000 households. It is the Twin Packs though - with two separate bodies and independent tailgate and operational systems - that now give the council the capacity to collect an increased number of dry recyclable materials and in less time that was previously possible kerbside.
As Merthyr Tydfil's Environmental Services Manager, Mike Thomas states: "The split back bodies of the Dennis Eagle Twin Packs are perfect for our requirements and we are confident that they will be instrumental in helping us move toward the 40% recycling target that the Government has set for 2009/10. They are an extremely flexible RCV in terms of what they can collect and with everything being kept separate there is little chance of materials being contaminated during both collection and offloading."
In addition to supplying the seven strong new vehicle intake, Dennis Eagle will continue to assume responsibility for carrying out the contract maintenance and servicing of the RCVs from its Service Centre in Merthyr Tydfil, just as it does currently for the 100% Dennis Eagle fleet.
For added flexibility, Merthyr Tydfil Council has taken delivery of three Twin Pack 15s and one High Capacity Twin Pack 20. Powered by the 6 x 4 Elite chassis, each Twin Pack will be used to support the weekly collection of garden and food waste that goes to a local composting site.
In addition to the Twin Packs, Merthyr Tydfil has also taken delivery of three general compaction RCVs that are being used to support the collection of residual domestic waste across the borough, which also occurs weekly. Specified with Dennis Eagle's driver plus three Elite cab and equipped with Terberg Omni-Del bin lifts, each RCV features the narrow Elite 6 x 2 chassis, two of which have been specified with the P2-15N body option and on with the P2-12N.
Additionally, the council has on order a further four Twin Packs – Dennis Eagle's 50/50 model featuring two equal sized body compartments – that are due to enter service in November. These additional recycling RCVs will be used to enhance the dry recycling collections recently contracted to Amgen Cymru MRF situated jus outside the county borough. The dry kerbside recycling collection scheme includes paper, cans, glass, cardboard, TetraPak, aerosols, foil and plastics.
As Mike Thomas adds: "Whilst our dry recyclable scheme currently extends to 95% of all households, our green and food waste service only goes to some 10,000. With the new vehicles in place, we are confident that we will be able to roll out both recycling services to everyone and within a very short timescale.
To help support the new recycling initiative, Merthyr Council is looking to encourage people to recycle far more effectively across the borough. As a result, the council has organised Merthyr Environment Day, appointed two recycling wardens who will offer help and advice to families and households, developed an educational scheme that is to be introduced in all local schools and invested in a recycling promotional vehicle. "Whilst the council has demonstrated it is prepared to make the investment necessary for it to reach its own recycling targets, it is important that we have our own residents on side and educating them to become more environmentally responsible is just as important," concludes Mike.