Norfolk recycling operator invests in new JCB Wastemasters

Norse Environmental Waste Services bolster their equipment fleet with more JCB Wastemaster machines

NORSE Environmental Waste Services (NEWS) have invested in a fleet of specialist waste-handling equipment from local dealers Watling JCB. The deal includes two JCB JS20MH materials handlers, three 437HT Wastemaster wheel loaders, a 427HT Wastemaster and two 541-70 Wastemaster telescopic handlers, all of which are covered by a five-year repair and maintenance agreement with Watling JCB.

NEWS already operate two JCB 436HT Wastemaster loaders at a green waste facility, so is no stranger to JCB equipment. However, a strong working relationship with Watling JCB was just one of the factors that won the tender, with service back-up and machine specification also crucial to the deal.

‘We can’t afford to be down,’ said John Tillbrook, transfer station manager for NEWS. ‘Because we run small, remote sites, if a machine goes down we can’t afford to get another machine there, so downtime is critical. Norfolk is out on a limb geographically in terms of infrastructure links and a lot of plant companies are Midlands or London-based in the central corridor of the country. We went for JCB because Watling is in Wymondham, Norfolk. They can be at any of our remote stations in 40-50 minutes and our main material recycling facility in 20 minutes…The key for us is service and the speed of getting the equipment up and running.’

Being able to purchase all of the machinery from a single supplier was an important consideration for the company, as it means that a field service engineer can work on all of the equipment, rather than having to call upon a range of dealers to provide back-up. The availability of waste industry-specific models also played a crucial role in the decision to go with JCB.

Mr Tillbrook added: ‘They do a full range to suit our business such as fork trucks, telehandlers, shovels and material handlers and everything is available in Wastemaster specification to deal with the working environment in waste-handling. We haven’t got to try and add spec afterwards. When we looked at the specification during the tender stage we sat down and thought what do we really need and the Wastemaster spec gave us everything we wanted on all of the kit available.’

NEWS are a division of the Norse Group, operating three waste transfer stations within Norfolk. It also manages two third-party transfer stations, all of which feed its own material recovery facility (MRF) that has recently benefitted from a £10 million investment to cope with growing volumes of waste and recyclable material. As the main dry recycling provider for the whole of Norfolk, NEWS receive and process around 90,000 tonnes of dry recyclable material each year.

‘We manage all of Norfolk’s dry recyclables through the MRF, and a large percentage of the county’s domestic black bag waste,’ said Mr Tillbrook.

In addition, NEWS has an in-vessel composting facility capable of handling 45,000 tonnes of green waste per year, creating a compost material for nearby farmland.