Kerbside Collection Lorry

A Kerbside Collection Lorry is a type of lorry primarily used to collect recyclables from householders. The lorry has a series of compartments in the body of the vehicle that allow materials to be sorted manually by the collection personnel and placed into these segregated compartments (often termed Source-Separated Collections).

Each compartment is emptied separately at a MRF or Transfer Station via forklift, and in some cases the systems have some hydraulic compartments (i.e. for cardboard) where the compacting hydraulic ram can be used to empty that particular compartment.

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Process

  • The system of presenting the waste by the householder can range from boxes to reusable bags which the collection personnel lift up to the side of the lorry and then sort by hand into the relevant part/compartment of the lorry body.
  • The evolution of these systems over the last 10 years has seen development of the trucks to include compaction for compressible waste (such as Cardboard and/or Residual Waste) to optimise the volume of the lorry and reduce the need to return to the MRF or Transfer Station too frequently.
  • The quality of the recyclables collected and extremely low levels of contamination is one of the main attributes that advocates of this system promote over the alternatives.
  • Trucks generally include a section for the separate collection of food waste, for collection at the same time as the householders dry recyclables

Loaders Working on Kerbside Collection Lorry

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Notes

  • In some cases the the containers are plastic boxes that can be held onto metal hooks to relieve the loader from the weight of the box whilst sorting the materials
  • For other compartments, such as food and cardbaord, the material is loaded directly
  • Increasingly some dry recyclables are mixed on the lorry (ie plastic and cans) for later separation at the transfer facility

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