Recycling Project in Egypt Installs Griffith Elder Single Axle Weighbridges

In January 2011, managing director of Griffith Elder, David Elder, together with his wife, Younghee, visited the Sinai peninsula in the north-east of Egypt to oversee the installation of eight new single-axle weighbridges in the area. The weighbridges are all located strategically at the new recycling centres of major towns in the region. These weighbridges are part of a large-scale recycling project, funded by a European grant, procured in 2007 by the Egyptian government. The weighbridges are used to increase productivity in the recycling centres by monitoring the weights of waste materials coming in and out of the centre. First, all the city refuse vehicles coming into the recycling centres are weighed using the Ton-Tel™ dynamic weighing system. The waste is then removed and sorted, and the empty vehicle is weighed to calculate the weight of the waste. Once the incoming waste has been sorted into different recyclable materials and refuse, the outgoing individual products and the landfill is also weighed. By weighing the products in and out of the refuse centre, it can be seen how well the system is working, and hence where improvements can be made. David and Younghee organised the installation of these weighbridges, aiding a team of local engineers in placing each weighbridge in a pre-cast pit using the local tools. Each system runs from a 12 volt gel lead acid battery which is charged from a solar panel supplied by Griffith Elder. By using solar energy, the system takes full advantage of the sunny climate in Egypt, meaning no electricity is needed at the sites. This also means that the system is efficient and low-cost to run.
30th January 2011