LAWR

PAWRS PREVIEW 2014 UK manufacturers are enjoying a strong start to the year and are confident about the outlook, according to their industry body, the EEF. Is this optimism shared by the vehicle and plant waste specialists? What are the current trends driving growth? Liz Gyekye talks to two big names who will be exhibiting at PAWRS to find out more. MOBA UK Onboard weighing and identification system specialist MOBA UK will be descending down to Paignton and the PAWRS exhibition next month. It will be exhibiting under the OWL banner – which consists of other well-known vehicle specialists who include CMS SupaTrak and Vision Techniques. MOBA UK sounds positive about the market. The firm is a subsidiary of German firm MOBA and has been pre- sent in the UK for three years. It has operations in places such as Germany, USA, China, France and India. As a group its turnover is €60m. Globally, it has a total of 500 employees working for it. In the UK headquarters are based in Haddenham, Buckinghamshire. Speaking to LAWR, MOBA UK gen- eral manager Ian Lewis says: "The trend is for strong growth with the increased cost of waste disposal and landfill tax increases. Business is exceptionally good. In the first 18 months when we started it was very difficult to establish our products because we were new and we had no 'reference point' to show to our customers. "However, now customers are tak- ing a gamble and are using our systems because they can see the significant ben- efits it brings to them. Our order books are increasing every day." So, how does its bin identification system work exactly? The system identifies bins and delivers what MOBA describes as high weigh- ing accuracy that will "enable it to provide a greater level of service and management information to customers." Each bin has a unique chip to it and MOBA's bin identification (ID) products attached to refuse collection vehicles can iden- tify the bins as soon as the bin is on the truck to read its ID. It can also provide data on the weight of the bin. Traditionally, waste contractors would scan the bin by hand to obtain data. So, why is bin recognition useful for domestic properties? Lewis says that, essentially, its aim is to provide data its customer. He continues: "Because the costs of sending back a wagon to collect a missed bin – or having a dispute with a resident who has actually had a bin emptied, but cunningly refilled it again – have a disproportionately high cost in a rural area, that is why." Other advantages exist, Lewis says. For example, a street which has a his- tory of not regularly putting out its bins for crews to find can be contacted in advance to remind them of collection dates. Collection crews can also be sent alerts to remind them of hard-to-find bins before they get too far away. Essentially, business operations and local authorities are seeking ways to cut their costs. Lewis says MOBA UK caters for waste management companies and councils all over the UK and Ireland: "We supply to firms such as Veolia, Sita, Viridor and Biffa. We are also working with Birmingham City Council. Sixty vehicles in Birmingham are being fitted with our weighing system." In Ireland, most household waste col- lection is charged for. Most use a pay- by-weight systems. This has meant that some are using MOBA's onboard weigh- ing system in order to obtain recycling records and record the weight of the materials in the bin. So, apart from the differences in waste collection systems in Ireland compared to the UK, how does the UK compare to Europe? "The UK is far behind the European market in relation to under- standing the benefits of technology and embracing the pay-by-weight system. The UK tends to concern itself with price rather than technology. "It doesn't seem to appreciate tech- nology system on waste trucks. You should pay for the waste you throw out and be rewarded for recycling. This is about education." What about assuaging Daily Mail- type fears of a 'Big Brother' surveillance society in relation to 'chips in bins'? Lewis says that this point is mean- ingless. He says: "Isn't the UK being watched by a network of 1.85m CCTV cameras or something.This is about data collection of waste and not monitor- ing individuals. This is about managing waste collections." 22 Local Authority Waste & Recycling May 2014 Downtime with exhibitors MOBA's UHF Identification system MOBA UK general manager Ian Lewis ► May 2014 Local Authority Waste & Recycling 23

• Cover