Case Studies

Grassroots Recycling elevates plastic waste management capabilities with UNTHA shredder

Grassroots Recycling, a pioneer in plastic waste management, took a significant leap forward in its commitment to sustainable practices, with the investment into an LRK 1400 shredder from UNTHA UK. The strategic step underscored Grassroots Recycling’s dedication to enhancing operations and furthering its mission to assist Britain’s farmers and growers in responsibly recycling plastic waste.

Established in 2006, Grassroots Recycling has been a driving force in the agricultural and horticultural industries, providing flexible solutions — including local collections and delivery services from its recycling centre in Wiltshire and its nationwide FarmXS drop-in centres which specialise in farm plastics.  As a founding member of The Green Tractor Scheme, the firm is unwavering in its commitment to ensuring that all farm plastics are collected and recycled in accordance with the highest environmental standards.

To meet the growing demands of its operations, Grassroots Recycling sought a solution that could handle higher throughput while maintaining reliability and compatibility with existing infrastructure. The LRK1400 shredder from UNTHA UK perfectly addressed these needs, offering a larger machine with increased input capacity, as well as UK-based service and backup capabilities.

This new shredder allows Grassroots Recycling to process an average of 375 kg per hour — a significant enhancement from the company’s previous equipment. An anticipated 4:1 size reduction of its hard plastics will see the firm free up considerable space within its premises, enabling a greater volume of material to be brought to site and therefore increasing productivity, pace, and profitability long-term.

Talking on the machine’s output, Lewis Horne, sales consultant at UNTHA UK, added: “The LRK is forged with ultimate versatility, adapting to various shredding needs with bespoke drive capacities, rotor shapes, an effective cutting system, and low-wear swing pusher all ensuring perfect processing and economic shredding. The profiled rotor of Grassroots Recycling’s machine specifically allows for a robust throughput and high specification 60mm output fraction – the perfect feedstock for plastic reproduction which helps to close the loop towards a more circular economy.”

In addition to the machine purchase, Grassroots Recycling has secured a three-year service plan from UNTHA UK. This package provides direct access to UNTHA’s technical after sales expertise, ensuring on-demand engineering support, preventative maintenance and machine optimisation expertise – extending the shredder’s lifespan, reducing the risk of unplanned downtime and boosting overall ROI.

Offering a concluding thought about the collaboration, Jason summarised: “The team at UNTHA UK has done exactly as they have said, and it’s been a seamless process from the first point of contact through to installation and commissioning.”

We previously had a small four-shaft shredder from another manufacturer, which served us well, but our growth required a solution with higher throughput. Saving over 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste from landfill each year is no small feat. And as this figure grows, so too does our reliance on technology that can process these streams with ease and pace. “This investment in the LRK 1400 shredder, along with our broader equipment and employee training initiatives, not only meets our capacity needs but also integrates seamlessly with our conveyors, ensuring a truly streamlined workflow. The ability to now scale our shredding and granulation processes is a significant step change, which we expect to propel Grassroots’ continued recycling growth, especially as we further vertically integrate our operations.

Pallet shredder chips away at waste disposal costs for distribution firm

Busy distribution specialist K Engineering Group is one of the latest organisations to transform the tidiness, environmental impact, and cost-effectiveness of its logistics site, with the help of an UNTHA shredder. 

A PS1300 pallet shredder has been installed at the firm’s West Midlands headquarters, saving the business over £15,000 in waste collection fees per year.

The growing business began life as a manufacturer in 1954, but now largely imports and distributes a range of heavy duty nuts, bolts, threaded fasteners and other socket products, from its three UK depots. 

Goods come into the industrial facility loaded onto wooden pallets or packed within other shipping crates. With much of this bulky Asian packaging material old or unrepairable, it has no further use in the market and had begun to stack up – proving to be unsightly, occupying valuable space, and adding to fire risk. Waste disposal fees were high given the limited number of pallets that could be housed in a skip prior to collection, and K Engineering also wanted to boost the environmental credentials of its operation.

Now, the distributor is shredding its pallet waste in the purpose-engineered UNTHA PS1300. With the initial goal to reduce the volume of this otherwise bulky material, K Engineering has gone one step further by producing a homogenous 30mm chip, which is now being sold locally for landscaping mulch and recycling. 

We are new to shredding, but having read about the PS1300 we were intrigued about what this machine could do. Impressed with how our enquiry was handled and the quality of the manufacturing – something that we know a lot about as an organisation – we moved quickly. The shredder has been excellent – our operators were trained by UNTHA so they have confidence in the safe operation of the machine, and we’ve had no complaints. We’ve removed all the pallet waste that had accumulated on our site and now have an asset that will support our waste handling, long into the future. Importantly, we’re preserving the resource value of the wood, and I’ve even used some of the chip in my own garden!

Montrose-headquartered John Lawrie Tubulars has further bolstered its environmental credentials by investing in a system that enables the 100% in-house recycling of its tubular by-products. A specially configured RS40 four shaft shredder from UNTHA UK is now in operation, following successful trials earlier in the year.

Committed to the circular economy, the firm purchases steel tubulars from the oil and gas industry, before giving the products a new lease of life in construction piling. Repurposing the materials achieves a 97.21% carbon emission saving compared to using raw materials, with no detriment to quality.

But keen to continually improve its sustainability agenda, John Lawrie Tubulars has now also invested in an UNTHA plastic shredder. This globally-renowned technology can process half a tonne of screw caps — oil tube tread protectors — per hour, shredding the otherwise bulky material down to a homogenous 15mm fraction.

Drum and over band magnets affixed to the discharge conveyor then extract metal content from the output material, for local resale and recycling in Aberdeen, while the clean, high-quality plastic is also sent for remanufacturing. This results in the 100% reuse of material that was previously unusable.

“We were really pleased with the output quality as well as the availability of UNTHA’s expert support, should we need it. Their communication has been exceptional.”

UNTHA UK’s sales consultant Lewis Horne added: “As the RS40 was already in stock and immediately available from our North Yorkshire headquarters, we simply configured the technology to meet John Lawrie Tubular’s specific requirements. That’s the beauty of this flexible recycling system. Only the conveyor required manufacturing, which shortened the lead time to commissioning. We’ve invested heavily in stock machines for this reason.

“We recognise how many ambitious organisations there are in the UK, keen to advance their sustainability efforts at pace, and we are committed to supporting that. It was a particular pleasure to work with John Lawrie Tubulars as they further improve their environmental commitment, and we look forward to seeing what they can achieve next.”

With a number of stock machines at the firm’s test centre in Yorkshire, UNTHA UK encourages organisations to trial a shredder using their own materials, to understand exactly what is possible when it comes to processing materials for reuse, recycling and energy recovery.

We had heard that UNTHA shredders are valued for their longevity and reliability, which is something we value as a company. We therefore arranged a trial with a small sample of material, to see if the technology could tackle our input material. Impressed from the outset, we then arranged a second ‘shred test’ to see how the machine performed with a full load. But we don’t want to stop there – already we’re thinking about the creation of additional dedicated bulky waste recycling lines, in other parts of the country.

UNTHA is playing a leading role in helping Textek, a Shropshire-based recycling company, achieve its ambitious target to recycle one million end-of-life mattresses per annum — thanks to the amazing capabilities of two UNTHA XR3000C shredders. 

Installed three years ago in 2020, these machines lie at the heart of the operation’s bespoke mattress and bulky waste shredding line — a full recycling process resulting from eighteen months of research, design and development. This initiative was implemented as part of Textek’s wider sustainability strategy, and is instrumental in helping the organisation fulfil its core aim of diverting as many mattresses and sofas from landfill as possible. 

A closed-loop, sustainable system 

The XR investment has bolstered Textek’s pitch as being the UK’s most advanced bulky waste processing plant, as it can mechanically dismantle a mattress in as little as 30 seconds, compared to the seven minutes it would take for a skilled worker to manually break down this complex product type.

This is possible due to UNTHA’s robust machines, which are specially designed to shred and liberate difficult materials quickly and easily. The two XR3000C machines are at the start of the system, which separate the full mattress down to its constituent parts — ferrous metal and flock for an alternative SRF fuel. With almost 3m wide loading apertures, the XRs shred the mattresses with ease, down to a <50mm particle size to liberate the steel from the flock, so it can be fed over a sophisticated magnetic separation system for further ferrous extraction. 

Producing premium flock

Unlike other energy and time intensive technologies, UNTHA’s shredders deliver these high quality outputs in one single pass. 

The flock is separated from contaminated material to produce a premium SRF with a high calorific value of approximately 24MJ, and three grades of clean ferrous materials are segregated for resale, smelting and remanufacturing.

Consequently, Textek has achieved its goal of producing a closed loop recycling system that can easily and efficiently process and recycle complex material types — and importantly, achieve 100% landfill diversion.

Outstanding performance

The high throughput and performance levels of these machines mean that Textek can now process 300 mattresses per hour — equating to a remarkable 1.1 million mattresses being recycled and kept out of landfills per annum. They also bring notable financial and operational benefits, as they are both low maintenance and low-energy.

Elaborating on their value, Martin Price, MD at Textek, said: “No other mattress shredder will give you this material liberation on the belt. With UNTHA, the numbers really stack up in terms of throughputs, output quality, and revenue potential. It’s easy to operate too, not to mention clean and green — thanks to the world renowned UNTHA EcoDrive.”

An estimated 7 million mattresses were disposed of in 2017, at a cost of at least £20m, before considering transport and handling. This – coupled with illegal dumping, not to mention the environmental and commercial cost of manufacturing new replacement products – means the impact of this notably tricky waste stream is quickly spiralling. “While government initiatives are gradually looking at improved strategies for such bulky waste handling, we identified a need to move faster, so turned our attention to designing our own automated line. “But we don’t want to stop there – already we’re thinking about the creation of additional dedicated bulky waste recycling lines, in other parts of the country.

Norwich-headquartered PSH Environmental Ltd has unveiled a pioneering new project to transform waste into a renewable energy source — using only solar power.

The announcement comes following a significant re-investment into a 12,000ft² new building, 40% extension to the yard, new wash plant, solar system, and an UNTHA XR3000C mobil-e shredder which lies at the heart of the facility. Capable of processing a range of difficult waste materials for alternative fuels, the electric-driven XR3000C runs entirely from solar energy generated by PSH Environmental, on site. 

A 90mm screen processes grade C wood down to a homogenous biomass product for a local energy plant, while a 130mm screen can be interchanged in as little as 15 minutes, to enable PSH Environmental to reduce the density of other skip, bulky and C&I wastes, for RDF. The flexible shredder can also handle other bespoke products — even those notoriously considered economically unshreddable or too difficult to handle. The plant is now capable of throughputs of 40 tonnes of material per hour, which equates to 80,000 tonnes per annum.

The environmental credentials of PSH Environmental’s progressive project are further strengthened via the firm’s ‘Clean Up to Green Up’ campaign in association with Norfolk Wildlife Trust. This sees £1 from every skip hire donated to help restore a square metre of arable farmland into ancient woodland. With customers able to visit the site to see where a share of their money has gone, this supports the sustainability conscience of the supply chain, while ensuring continued reinvestment in the county, and the countryside.

Everything about UNTHA conveys the brand’s commitment to engineering a sustainable future, from the capability and quality of the shredders themselves, to the knowledge, support and passion within the UNTHA team. We know we have found the right partner for the ongoing progression of PSH Environmental.

MC Refrigeration Ltd has diverted over 24 tonnes of wood waste from landfill just three months after investing in a PS1300 pallet shredder from UNTHA UK — saving thousands in off-site disposal fees in the process.

The PS1300 is now installed at MC Refrigeration’s factory in Wellingborough and is processing its waste wood pallets on site. The firm is also selling the resulting homogenous 30mm wood chip for biomass heat recovery.

The machine is now installed at the organisation’s factory in Wellingborough and is processing its waste wood pallets on site. The firm is also selling the resulting homogenous 30mm wood chip for biomass heat recovery. MC Refrigeration was previously spending over £1,000 per month in landfill costs, skip hire, and collection fees.

Not only have we reduced our waste footprint, but the financials stack up too. With the savings we’re making, the machine will pay for itself in 3-4 years. It is also economical to run and keeps our site tidy.

Long-standing UNTHA customer H. Brown & Son Recycling has invested in a new UNTHA shredder, switching from an XR to a ZR.

The Stoke-on-Trent based waste management firm has used UNTHA shredding technology within its alternative fuel production plant for over a decade. But following the launch of the new ZR pre-shredder, last Autumn, Browns will switch out its trusty XR, after 11 years of operational service. The new machine will process the same variety of input materials – a multifaceted mix of commercial, industrial and other bulky wastes – transforming them into a 200mm fuel for UK Waste to Energy conversion. 

Following extensive on-site trials, Browns has discovered it can increase its throughputs by up to 30%, thanks to UNTHA’s ongoing innovation.

The two-shaft UNTHA ZR2400 has been fitted with the H waste table, to best suit Browns’ RDF set-up.

We’re really impressed that the ZR comes with the same electric drive - and therefore the same power savings - that we’re used to. You don’t traditionally expect this performance from a two-shaft machine.

Vitafoam has invested in a new UNTHA XR shredder, to modernise its foam-processing capabilities at its plant in Middleton, Greater Manchester.

Forming part of The Vita Group, Vitafoam processes ‘waste’ foam-based materials – such as trims and offcuts – for remanufacturing. The firm has procured the new XR2000 shredder to replace the XR model it first purchased from UNTHA UK over 20 years ago.

Our decision to buy an XR back in the early 2000s was because it was the best machine available at the time to meet our process requirements and increase production throughput. “Foam is notoriously difficult to shred – the way it condenses typically takes a lot of energy to process – so we needed a machine that would be up to the job. “When looking to replace the shredder, we returned to UNTHA two decades later, because we remain confident they are a market leader in this complex field and that the modernised XR will benefit our operations. It also makes more commercial sense.

The equipment will continue to process seven tonnes of foam per hour – equating to 14,000 tonnes of material salvaged for re-use each year. The new XR processes polyester, polyether, and reticulated foam to a particle size of <150mm.

Foam is notoriously difficult to shred – the way it condenses typically takes a lot of energy to process – so we needed a machine that would be up to the job. When looking to replace the shredder, we returned to UNTHA two decades later, because we remain confident they are a market leader in this complex field and that the modernised XR will benefit our operations. It also makes more commercial sense.