LAWR

ith much of the UK's recyclable household waste now shipped to emerging economies for manufacturing re-use, the logistics of loading baled waste into shipping containers has never been more pressing. General and local authority collections of items such as textiles or plastic bottles have now become commodities, with specialist firms sorting, baling and shipping waste for transformation into materials such as polar fleece fabric, filling for pillows, plastic piping and even furniture. However, while the international trade in recycled materials is becoming increasingly important – namely because it minimises the use of virgin plastics and manufacturing resources overseas – the process of transporting the waste in the first instance can incur significant shipping and exporting costs for the UK companies involved. Understandably, an increasing number of recycling firms have, of late, been investigating in ways to reduce loading expenses. The most obvious issue here is that the nature of the industry precludes the possibility of installing a warehouse with dedicated loading bays – not only is it too expensive, but dirt, dust and debris would quickly damage such a solution. The flipside, though, is that something is needed. Containers have to be loaded and stacked in accordance not only with health and safety, but shipping and export regulations, so simply slinging bags of waste into the back of containers in a manual fashion isn't an ideal solution. Opportunity Fortunately, another option is avail- able, which is as hard-wearing, ver- satile and functional as the sorting facilities where it must be used. The mobile yard ramp is not only more cost-effective than a dedicated loading bay, in many cases its portability and durability represents a better loading solution for a recycling operator. It may seem impossible to think that an item of apparatus which is considerably less expensive to install, can be as practical, safe and effective as a full loading bay, but by presenting some of the recycling industry concerns that can be resolved with such a piece of kit, the reasons stand up for themselves. 16 Local Authority Waste & Recycling June 2014 W Much of the UK's household waste – from textiles to plastic bottles – is consoli- dated and then exported overseas for recycling. For the organisations involved, the logistics of loading baled waste into shipping containers can be a tricky and time- sensitive procedure. John Meale of Thorworld Industries explores the issue. Solving the tricky issue of shipping containers with recycled waste for export A yard ramp, sometimes called mobile yard ramp or container ramp, is a movable metal ramp for loading and unloading of shipping containers and vehicle trailers, without the need for permanent docking bays. A yard ramp is placed at the back of a vehicle to provide access for forklifts to ascend the ramp, quickly and safely into the container or truck body. (Source: Wikipedia.org) Definition of yard ramp

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