Battery recycler to save £1/2 million in toughest application

Lead acid battery recycler, Envirowales, is looking forward to saving up to half a million pounds in damage and maintenance costs thanks to a bespoke fleet of forklift trucks supplied by Briggs Equipment.

As part of a new five-year contract with Briggs, Envirowales has taken delivery of seven Yale 4 tonne diesel trucks and one 12 tonne diesel truck.

The tough environment faced by trucks at Envirowales’s South Wales facility had cost the company more than £100,000 in servicing and damage costs every year; expenditure it was keen to reduce.

Craig Williams, yard and materials movement manager at Envirowales, explained: "Our site presents a tough challenge for trucks and other materials handling equipment. As a result we needed robust machines to cope with our site conditions and a service partner to provide optimum uptime.

"Following an extensive tender process, we were impressed by Briggs’ special approach to maintenance and innovative machine modifications."

Kane Reynolds, account manager at Briggs, explained: "We took a completely different approach and supplied bespoke machines that could work efficiently with dust and heat.

"The Yale machines have an open chassis design, vented bonnet and a lint screen in front of the radiator to prevent dust from settling. Special engineering design options were also added and the oil immersed brakes only require one oil change over the life of the contract."

Craig continued: "Our machines do 1,000 hours per year which would usually only warrant up to three service visits. Briggs decided to allocate a whole day each week for preventative maintenance to keep the machines running and dust free. This was a really proactive approach which means our operations will run more efficiently."

All the trucks come with Briggs’ IP67 rated Speedshield system, sealed and protected from both dust and water. In addition, Speedshield will help to reduce operator damage costs by at least 30 per cent.

Envirowales handles up to 300 tonnes of batteries that come into the site daily and sees nearly 800 tonnes of recycled lead leave its facility each week.

"Over the length of the contract we hope to realise up to £100,000 per year on service, maintenance and damage costs," Craig added.