My

My name is Frikkie van Tonder and I am the Maintenance Manager for The New Reclamation Group (Reclam). We are the largest recyclers of scrap metal in South Africa.

There are more than 2,500 Reclam employees working at over 60 facilities and operations in South Africa and surrounding countries. A business of this size requires reliable and productive equipment, including a wide range of conventional and specially-adapted excavators.

HITACHI

The Hitachi excavators are used for loading and unloading scrap metal at each stage of the recycling process.

Experience

Reclaim and gain

The New Reclamation Group (Reclam) is the largest recycler of scrap metal in South Africa. A business of this size and scale requires reliable and productive material handling equipment for its operations nationwide. This is the role of Hitachi Construction Machinery Southern Africa (HCSA) with the supply of a wide range of conventional and specially adapted excavators. Ground Control visited Reclam’s impressive facility in Pretoria, Gauteng to find out more.

The one-hour journey between HCSA’s headquarters in Boksburg, near Johannesburg and Reclam’s Pretoria branch passed quickly as Quinton Kruger explained the background to the relationship between the two companies. Quinton has worked with HCSA for 18 years – eight of which were spent operating as a field service technician, specialising on ZX550/850 and EX1200 machines –- and is now employed as a National Customer Contracts Engineer.

The New Reclamation Group (Pty) Ltd. was initiated on 31 October 1998. Its business plan focused on the immediate acquisition of numerous companies involved in the purchase, processing and sale of secondary ferrous and non-ferrous metal. The newly formed group of companies consolidated 14 different recycling businesses situated throughout South Africa and Mozambique.

Since 2000, Reclam has expanded its operations into other recyclable commodities, including paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, rubber and integrated waste management services. Today the company is a one-stop recycling solution and the largest supplier of secondary raw materials to other industries.

There are more than 2,500 Reclam employees working at over 60 facilities and operations in South Africa, Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi, Kenya, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. This makes Reclam an industry-leading concern and the largest such business in Africa.

The company owns a specialist fleet of more than 600 purpose-built vehicles and in excess of 4,000 containers placed at industrial locations for the collection of recyclable materials. Reclam typically collects, processes and delivers in excess of 1.5million tonnes of recyclables per annum with a turnover of over two billion rand. This is an impressive operation on a grand scale.

The part that HCSA plays in this success story is also impressive. When Quinton first started working on this contract, Reclam had five Hitachi machines on its fleet. This number has now grown to 63, ranging from ZX120s to ZX330s, all delivered directly from Boksburg.

However, the most popular model is the ZX200 with 18 ZX200SPL material handling machines – such as the two working at Pretoria – and 30 conventional excavators. The ZX200SPLs at Reclam’s Pretoria branch have been on the fleet for just under and over three years respectively.

They have been modified for the purpose of handling scrap metal. The special features include: a raised cab for better visibility; an 11-metre, two-piece, long-reach boom; a plate to protect the undercarriage; and the ability to switch between grapple (pictured here) and magnetic attachments. The Hitachi excavators are therefore used for loading and unloading scrap metal at each stage of the recycling process.

Reclam’s primary business is the recycling of ferrous metal (e.g. steel) although it also handles smaller quantities of non-ferrous metals (e.g. aluminium, copper, bronze, zinc, lead and brass). The vast pile of metal contained everything from cars to cans, baths to beds and many different types of frames and containers.

The recyclable materials arrive in Reclam’s collection truck fleet or via other commercial or privately-owned trucks and vans. The promise of “cash for scrap” ensures that there is a queue of vehicles at any time of the day or night (the Pretoria facility and seven others are open 24 hours, seven days a week).

Each transporter is weighed on the way in and out of the plant to establish the volume and therefore value of each load. Bigger customers are settled on account rather than on a cash basis.
After the scrap has been added to the constantly replenished collection in the Reclam yard, the metal is separated from other waste. This includes any hazardous materials which are disposed of by proper means.

The metal is then graded, separated, fragmented and processed by various machines and different types of equipment. The major work is carried out by shredding and fragmentising plants. The fragmentisers are capable
of processing 50 tons per hour and can even shred a complete car in25 seconds!

Reclam also has static and mobile sheers, static and mobile baling machines, croppers, grinders, extruders and other machinery – the list is endless. All of this equipment – to the value of two billion rand worth of assets – is used at various stages in the processing of some or all of the recyclables handled by Reclam.

The daily processed material is finally stockpiled, before onward transportation to Reclam’s customers at home and abroad in downstream industry. As well as the ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal, the recyclable materials consist of glass cullet, waste paper, cardboard, plastic and rubber.

The Maintenance Manager at the Pretoria plant, Frikkie van Tonder, enjoys an excellent working relationship with Quinton and his team at HCSA. Hitachi plays a key role in the daily (and nightly) operations of The Reclamation Group, not only in the Pretoria area, but on a national basis.

“There is no doubt that we have very good relations with Hitachi,” explains Frikkie. “Not only are they responsive to our needs, but they provide Reclam with a high quality product and an equally high level of service. We are more than happy with the support which we receive on an ongoing basis.

“Our Hitachi excavators are perfect for this type of job and much better than the other machines that the company owns. They have to work under the most challenging of conditions in the scrapyard but they are extremely reliable and our operators prefer to use them.

“The ZX200s return a high level of productivity right around the clock and they suffer from minimal downtime. The only issue that we have had in three years is the residue that has gathered on the machines from the atmosphere, but this is normal in this type of environment.”

An example of this was the attendance of a HCSA product support vehicle. The engineer was carrying out some on-site maintenance to ensure that the Zaxis continues to provide a good return on investment. The Hitachis provide Reclam with a remarkable figure of 98 per cent availability – routine service work and small breakdowns account for the remaining two per cent.

This attentive service is vital to Reclam as it has acquired the machines on Full Maintenance Agreement Contracts (FMACs). This is a bespoke agreement which allows the customer to lease the machine with an option to purchase it for 40 per cent of the residual value or receive a new replacement after four years.

HCSA obviously has a strong relationship with Reclam and this is something which Quinton is understandably proud of. “We must have an open and trustworthy approach,” Quinton explains. “Any downtime must be minimised and therefore we have to react as quickly as possible when things need to be done.
“It always helps to give an honest assessment of the situation, even in the rare event of a breakdown. If you give the customer the worst possible case and it comes in early, then they will always be happy.

“Also, we like to advise the customer of preventative maintenance as much in advance as possible. As part of the service, we are able to supply a full monthly inspection and report, including pictures. We can also save time from a technical viewpoint by use of diagnostic analysis before sending out a service engineer if required.

“I know that I’ve got an important part to play in the supply chain. My overall aim is to maintain good relations in the link between HCSA and the customer.” Thanks to the efforts of Quinton and his team, this is being achieved with some distinction. It is this level of service which helps Reclam to meet its targets and keepits total recycling and waste management service on track. By recovering and marketing recyclable materials, they are helping the planet and future generations by reducing the volume of waste sent to landfill sites.

This enables Reclam to satisfy its corporate strapline of “Reclaim and gain” in an environmentally friendly manner – and to the benefit of preferred suppliers such as Hitachi.