Keeping it clean for Ballast Phoenix
Recycled aggregates supplier uses Gotland BagVAC for efficient and quicker dust removal
BALLAST Phoenix Ltd are of the UK’s leading producers of incinerator bottom ash aggregate (IBAA), a sustainable recycled material which contains glass, brick, stone, concrete, ceramics and fused clinker. The company produces around 600,000 tonnes of recycled aggregates annually.
The IBAA production process generates a significant amount of dust and spillages, all of which need to be cleaned up and removed on a regular basis as part of the site’s general housekeeping programme.
Prior to utilizing the Gotland BagVAC at Ballast Phoenix’s Tees Valley site, operatives used to do all the dust removal manually with brooms, brushes shovels and barrows, but this was a laborious and time-consuming chore.
‘Trying to clean up manually was inefficient and unpopular, and we needed to find a better solution,’ explained Gary Hutchinson of Ballast Phoenix. ‘The BagVAC was demonstrated to us by one of the Gotland team and it seemed the ideal way to remove dust faster and more effectively.’
Mr Hutchinson decided to give the BagVAC a two-month trial and immediately found it was a much efficient way of cleaning up. ‘When it comes to dust removal the BagVAC has a number of big advantages,’ he added. ‘First, you are vacuuming up everything, the dust and larger waste material. Secondly, the whole process is fully enclosed so the whole process of removing all the dust and waste is easier for operatives.
‘Finally, using the BagVAC is much faster, and because it comes with all sorts of accessories, nozzles and extensions, it’s much more effective. We can remove dust at source instead of knocking it down and having to sweep it all up manually. The net result for us is that the BagVAC worked well and did everything we asked of it.
‘It has clearly improved the housekeeping and we now have a better working environment, something our team really appreciates. While the trial was a one-off exercise, we’re sufficiently convinced that we’ll be using the BagVAC quarterly or more often.’
