Biffa reduces conveyor maintenance and cleaning time at MRF with STARCLEAN® belt cleaners
National waste management experts, Biffa, have MRF’s throughout the UK. Their plant in Leicester uses 20+ belt conveyors as part of their black bin waste recycling operation.
Handling household waste is difficult due to the variety of materials, which includes plastics, metals, wood, paper, and large amounts of sticky organic materials. This material builds-up on conveyor structures and also drops onto the floor, causing significant maintenance and housekeeping issues.
On one conveyor, the shredded and organic waste would build up on-and-around the head drum in significant quantities. The rudimentary belt cleaner installed couldn’t effectively clean the belt and became overwhelmed with the waste. The engineering team would then have to spend ~15 minutes per day cleaning this area, and regularly removed 4 wheelbarrows of waste.
In search of an improvement, the Engineering Supervisor contacted ProSpare.
A ProSpare service engineer visited site to assess the facility and scope the conveyor.
The installation of a STARCLEAN® belt cleaner was recommended, and a trial agreed. The STARCLEAN® pre-cleaner was installed on the head drum of the conveyor and specified with polyurethane blades, ensuring the scraper was able to efficiently combat the wide variety of materials handled.
Following the install of STARCLEAN®, the amount of waste building up on-and-around the head drum has significantly reduced.
Previously, the engineering team spent 15 minutes per day cleaning the head drum, this has now been reduced to 5-10 minutes twice per week, saving up to an hour per week.
Waste cleaned from the area has also reduced from 4 wheelbarrows per day to just 2 per week, saving approximately 16 wheelbarrows per week.
The time saved can now be reinvested to maintain other locations around the plant. As the area is cleaner, exposure to risk has also reduced.
Following the success of the trial installation, the team on site are now installing a number of STARCLEAN® belt cleaners across the network of conveyors.
For more information visit www.prospare.co.uk
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