Warwick Ward supply a Tana Shark 440DT Shredder to Robert Hopkins Environmental Services.

Based in West Bromwich, Birmingham Robert Hopkins Environmental Services (RHES) are the UK’s leading environmentally friendly waste management service provider, specialising in the collection and disposal of all waste. With their wealth of experience they have acquired the skills and technical competence to provide these services throughout the whole of the UK.

Over the years the company has built up an impeccable reputation, and have developed good working relationships with their extensive customer base, which includes working with a spectrum of clients from ‘blue chip’ multinationals to small local businesses. With an ever expanding fleet of technically advanced vehicles, they are able to provide a swift and reliable service, for the collection and disposal of all waste streams throughout the UK.

At the West Bromwich operation the company operate a waste transfer and treatment station which receives all types of hazardous waste, specializing in the more difficult types of waste including the waste outside of WAC (Waste Acceptance Criteria). They deal with around 40,000 tonnes per annum of waste material including oily rag, paints, solvents, phenols and similar materials which they find disposal routes for.

A new addition to the fleet
Recently their fleet took on a new addition in the form of a brand new Tana Shark 440DT Shredder which has been supplied by Warwick Ward of Barnsley, who is the sole UK distributor for the Tana brand.

Having unsuccessfully trialled a couple of machines that were on the market, Peter contacted Warwick Ward who assured them that the Tana Shark 440DT Shredder would easily process the 13-20tph of material that they required, shredding the material to the desired particle size between 30-100mm.

Peter Hopkins – MD of RHES, commented, “After a demonstration we decided that this single shaft machine was ideal as it is infinitely suitable for the processing of oily rags. With a variable engine speed control not only will it process oily rags but it has settings for different kinds of materials that we can put through. We did consider a fixed machine but a tracked basically machine allows us to position it accordingly. The new machine has been put into service shredding plastic related material, feeding the material into adjacent skips to be transported as a fuel for a power plant so it can be used as ‘waste to energy’. Basically it was a ‘no brainer’, the performance is superb!

The Tana Shark 440DT Shredder
Ashley Ward – MD of Warwick Ward, commented, “The machine we have supplied to RHES is unique in its ability to create a certain fraction size particle to suit whatever application is desired. Throughput is determined by a number of factors and when you have moist content you will have a slower amount of tonnage per hour than you would with drier material, but even with the wetter material we are achieving 15-20tph with the screen. Obviously the adaptability of the machine is such that dependant on the material you can change the set-up, therefore if you want to pre-shred, you can increase the volume dramatically.”

The Tana Shark 440DT Shredder has many features, the first one is the side opening door, meaning that any non-crushables can be easily and quickly removed from the machine without causing lengthy downtime, and at a sensible working height for the operator.

Additionally, the rotor screens can be changed and it is easy to service, adjust or change the knives and counter knives with no long downtime in the shredding process. The design of the Tana Powerpack also allows for quick maintenance with easy access to engine service points. Accessibility also means better work safety.

It can be supplied as a semi-trailer, on tracks or as a static electric version and is a really versatile machine for both general waste, C&D, tyres and wood waste.
Ashley further commented, “It’s a superb machine which features interchangeable rotor screens capable of producing a particle size as small as 40mm in one pass and dual life reversible rotor knife and counter knife tools. You can also adjust the fragment size without any long interruptions to the shredding process. Using the right screen, will give you a higher quality end product and improved cost-efficiency.”

“The standard bolt-on, reversible cutting knives and adjustable counter knives are suitable for all waste materials – you don't have to change knives just because you change the waste fraction being shredded. It is also worth noting that the unique design of the knives improves fuel efficiency compared to other traditional knife setups when shredding waste.”