SITA UK Secure Shredding Services, the specialist division of the leading recycling and resource management company, have installed the latest UNTHA RS100 shredder at their East London facility.
The robust machine will shred materials that SITA UK collects from a diverse range of private and public organisations. Whilst it will predominantly handle paper documents and files, the RS100 offers SITA UK the opportunity to shred other types of materials too.
Jerome Mingaz, SITA UK's Head of Secure Shredding Services, explains the procurement process the team went through: "Over a decade of experience in this field, in the UK and across Europe, means that we understand our clients' developing needs incredibly well. It was therefore important that we invested in equipment that enabled us to satisfy these specific requirements.
"We especially sought a reliable shredder that could produce a small yet consistent particle size. Thankfully the design and functionality of the RS100 met our specification entirely, whilst presenting a number of additional operational benefits like high throughput, a low level of dust and vibration, and energy efficiency.
"The four shaft shredder also creates great scope for SITA UK going forward due to its ability to handle other confidential waste materials such as USB cards, computer hard drives and even uniforms."
With a number of screens that can be fitted according to fraction size requirements, every single robust RS100 machine is individually configurable to client-specific scenarios. Once material is drawn into the shredder's main cutters, it is both pre-shredded and re-shredded in a single pass. Material that does not fall through the screen is transferred to the secondary cutters before it moves back up to be fed into the cutting chamber for re-shredding. An engineer or the client themselves simply adjusts the screen according to the desired fraction size. Screens with holes of 25mm diameter for example guarantee small confetti-like particles that - especially when combined with the machine's mixing action - ensure a greater DIN security level and consequently increased confidentiality.
Providing a further insight into the RS100, UNTHA UK's managing director Chris Oldfield elaborates: "Quality of the end product is without a doubt the prime focus for SITA UK, but the capabilities of UNTHA's patented four-shaft technology will achieve many other benefits for the recycling experts too.
"Single shaft confidential waste shredders in the marketplace must operate at higher speeds to achieve the throughput volume required, but a faster RPM and a tip speed of one metre per second or more equates to a greater level of vibration, dust and even the risk of fire if metal enters the shredder and creates a spark.
"On the other hand, the slower RS100 has a tip speed of only 0.5 metres per second, which significantly reduces the amount of vibration and dust. The slower RPM also means that materials such as paper are shredded without the fibre being destroyed, which is especially important for SITA UK as all materials shredded within their East London facility will be sent for recycling.
"The high-torque technology and large screen area of the RS100 means SITA UK will still be able to achieve significant throughput despite the slower RPM, ensuring they satisfy the needs of their customers. Hard-wearing cutting systems and self-cleaning contra shears also heighten the machine's reliability and reduce the amount of necessary ongoing maintenance, so that SITA UK's staff can concentrate on the core responsibilities of their role."
Chris concludes: "Organisations that hold personal information about individuals have a legal responsibility to safeguard that data, not only whilst it is in their possession but when it comes to disposal too. SITA UK has a comprehensive system in place to manage clients' confidential waste - including secure containers, protected transit, supervised unloading of waste and audit trails - so the capabilities of the shredder must be able to meet these high standards.
"With the RS100 though, there's no doubt at all that the confidential waste is in safe hands."