By Timothy Byrne, Waste Management Expert and FACTS Online Columnist
UTE Portmany is a consortium made up of three environmental services companies: FCC Medio Ambiente (the Spanish brand for FCC Environment), Ferrovial Servicios and local environmental services company HERBUSA. The consortium has recently purchased six new environmentally friendly waste collection vehicles from Geesinknorba Spain.
The consortium was formed in 2017 after the municipality of Sant Antoni de Portmany awarded the new waste collection service contract to UTE Portmany. The contract is for a 10 year period with an option to extend it for an additional two years if the municipality wishes.
The population of Sant Antoni is between 33-34,000 people but, due to tourism, this can treble in the summer months. To provide an efficient waste collection service for both locals and tourists, UTE Portmany purchased six new waste collection vehicles from Geesinknorba Spain, two of which are ‘N2’ series LI-ON POWER hybrid waste collection vehicles. These are the 11H22 11m3 narrow units with Geesinknorba’s L200 series bin lifting equipment able to handle DIN 30700 and DIN 30740 type containers from 120-1100 litre capacities. The units are fitted with an electric power take off (PTO) and the unit’s vehicle chassis re-energises the LI-ON POWER’S battery pack. A conventional Chelsea gearbox pump type PTO has been fitted to the vehicle chassis for emergency cases if the unit’s LI-ON POWER lithium ion battery pack fails. This additional gearbox PTO can operate the bin lift and compaction equipment through the interaction with the vehicle chassis and engine. Geesinknorba’s renowned ‘Smartpack’ system, using the minimum amount of fuel from the vehicle’s pump when operating the bin lift and compaction equipment, is also incorporated into the new units.
These ‘N’ series units are mounted onto Iveco Eurocargo 160-E 25 Euro 6 4×2 16 tonne chassis, complete with a cab for seating a driver and two crew personnel. The Allison 3000R automatic transmission has been fitted with a retarder in order to reduce driver fatigue, while an air deflector kit has been fitted to help improve fuel consumption.
Four AMS CL1-E (19)-19m3 side loading units, with roof mounted doors to prevent waste scatter, have also been purchased from Geesinknorba Spain as part of the new waste collection service. The municipality of Sant Antoni, in conjunction with UTE Portmany, decided the side loader collection system would reduce operational costs and improve the efficiency of the waste collection service. These units also have a lithium ion battery pack and the unit’s vehicle chassis recharges the batteries while the equipments are in operation. These CL1-Es are mounted onto Iveco Stralis AD260S33 Euro 6 6×2 rear steer 26 tonne chassis, which has an electric-actuated pump enabling the driver to ‘pack on the run’ (clearing the charge box for fresh waste to be collected). The low noise production of the units ensures that no emissions are produced, making them environmentally friendly, and the Allison 3200R automatic transmission has been fitted with a retarder to reduce driver fatigue.
The waste collection service in Sant Antoni is provided twice a day over a seven hour shift and seven days a week. The morning shift starts at 5am and finishes at 1pm, while the night shift starts at 10am and finishes at 5am.
The ‘N2’ series LI-ON POWER units empty 800-1100 litre containers at hotels, restaurants and cafeterias. The vehicle’s collection crew consists of a driver and two operatives who place the 800-1100 containers onto the unit’s L200 series bin lift for emptying. The units also provide a door-to-door collection service of residual waste and dry source segregated recyclables for businesses unable to use the communal collection points in the street, which are for the sole use of residential properties.
The CL1-E side loading units empties 1800 and 3200 litre containers of residual waste and source segregated recyclables of either mixed glass or plastics, paper and cardboard along the main streets of the municipality and its town. Residual waste and glass is collected daily while plastic, paper and cardboard are collected three times each week. This collection frequency can change depending on whether it is high or low tourist season. The new side loading vehicles are only manned with a driver, which has reduced operating costs and has greatly improved the efficiency of the waste and recycling collection service. One of the four new CL1-E units is specifically used for the collection of glass and has had its packing pressures reduced to prevent breakage to maintain its quality before reprocessing. 90 per cent of residual waste across Sant Antoni is now collected using the side loading collection system, while just 10 per cent is collected using the ‘N2’ series rear loading units.
Both the new ‘N’ series and CL1-E units collect two loads of residual waste in the morning and night shifts and deliver it to the island’s sanitary landfill site close to Cala Llonga in the municipality of Santa Eulària des Riu. The sanitary landfill site is operated by UTE GIREF, a consortium made up of FCC, Urbaser, Ferrovial Servicios and HERBUSA. This disposes of all waste produced by the five municipalities across the island, as well as that produced on the island of Formentera. It is operational 24 hours a day to receive waste collected both day and night from the island’s municipalities.
All of the six new vehicles are GIS and GPS tracked so that UTE Portmany can see the location of the vehicles on their collection routes. RFID tags have been fitted to the side loader containers so that the data gathered can show whether all containers have been emptied, and the collection routes can be reproduced in real time from this data. All of the GIS/GPS and RFID data is provided to UTE Portmany and the municipality for review so that efficiencies in the waste collection service can be jointly improved by both parties.
In an interview with Mr Pablo Valdés Cardona, councillor for the environment of Sant Antoni de Portmany, he said: “It was important for this popular tourist destination to be provided with a high quality waste collection service”. He continued: “The award of the new contract to the UTE Portmany consortium was because of the offer of the most up-to-date technology, best waste collection service offering and best environmental practice”.
Indeed, the UTE Portmany consortium provides a high quality waste collection service to both residents and tourists of Sant Antoni de Portmany, and looks set to continue to do so in the future.
For more information, email: garbage32@hotmail.com
