Grundon adopts VWS bin-weighing technology
Waste management specialist Grundon is to install the Enviroweigh bin weighing system from Vehicle Weighing Solutions Ltd (VWS) in over 50 waste collection vehicles, the weighing equipment supplier has announced – with the number set to rise in the future.
The vehicles are a mixture of front end loaders (FELs) and trade waste, which range from the 32-tonne FEL on Volvo chassis to 15-26 tonne trade waste on DAF chassis with a combination of Heil, Dennis, NTM and Geesink equipment.
Stephen Townsend, group fleet manager for Grundon, said: “Many customers now stipulate bin-weighing equipment on tender specifications so this is a direct response to market demand. At the moment we use the technology to identify heavy containers, but ultimately we are moving towards pay by weight because that’s what our customers are starting to ask for.”
He continued: “The Enviroweigh system is highly accurate and, because it is weights and measures-approved, it can be used for pay-for-weight services. It can also be installed onto all makes and models of vehicles.
“Combined with potential bin tag and chip technology we will have the necessary data to monitor collections closely and help our customers to improve their recycling efficiency, hence reducing landfill tax from residual waste.”
VWS designs and manufactures its own load cells and weighing systems in the UK, for both local authority and private applications. As part of the contract, the company worked with the Heil factory to engineer the fitment of load cells onto the forks of four Euro Half Pack FELs, for which VWS built a 45ft testing ramp to make sure the weighing equipment still functioned accurately, even when the vehicle is operating at extreme gradients.
Julian Glasspole, managing director at VWS, said: “We are delighted that Grundon have chosen us as their weighing partner. Feedback from the marketplace is showing our system to be the most reliable, adaptable and accurate bin-weighing system available.
“We’ve developed data collection, storage, transfer and manipulation solutions to suit any IT infrastructure and the system can interface with the latest software, GPS and telemetry technologies for remote monitoring.”
Stephen Townsend added: “Like Grundon, VWS is a British company and we are keen to support UK manufacturers. We are planning to order another tranche of weighing systems from VWS and look forward to continue working with them in the future.”
VWS belongs to a family of complementary British companies known collectively as AW.co.uk, which specialise in the design, manufacture, installation and servicing of load cells, weighing and traffic monitoring systems.
