IWM backs 'green' agency

Rubbish, recycling and the proposed landfill tax dominated discussions at last week's annual Institute of Wastes Management (IWM) conference.

As well as expressing support for a National Waste Strategy, conference delegates also backed the formation of a new, independent Environment Agency.

In addition to a 20% rise in visitors, the IWM witnessed the unveiling of a range of equipment central to the growing demands of effective waste disposal.

Among the myriad of dust-carts and systems targeted at waste removal, was the new Seddon-Atkinson low-level, no-step 'View-Line' cab, offering unprecedented access for urban collection vehicles.

In the handling sector JCB launched the 436HT 'Wastemaster' wheel loader, with its specially adapted high-lift front-end and optional heavy-duty Michelin D2 'mine' tyres. Features include a load-over height of 5m and a clear dump height of 4.26m.

Tackling the problem of material segregation, an important issue in Germany, Mettlach-based SEG introduced the Control 2000. Claimed to be more than just an excavator with a grab attachment, the Control 2000 sorts and selects material from dumped waste - a task central to meeting Germany's stringent demands for its landfill sites. Using sophisticated sampling and communication equipment, the machine's operator can extract non-permitted materials and identify the offender.

Addressing the UK's problem of polluted beaches, exhibitors offered two solutions. Firstly the German-made Kassbohrer 'Beach Tech' STR 2000, with pto-powered hydraulic system driving a double-chain screener and secondly, at less than half the price of the German unit, a British-built RP300 towed-beach cleaner from Derbyshire-based Goode Equipment.