RICHLAND, WA | The waste never stops at the Horn Rapids Landfill in Richland, Washington. Tracy Reed, the lead operator for the City of Richland, found that his processing equipment was stopping, however. And frequently.
By the summer of 2021, the horizontal high-speed grinder used for the city’s green waste processing had become quite the headache. It was costing a fortune in fuel, parts, and downtime. The trommel screen for their compost was older and could not keep pace with current production demands, either. The city needed new equipment.
When Reed began his search, he didn’t have to look far. PacWest Machinery, the local Ecoverse dealer, was just a few minutes away in neighboring Pasco. He connected with Ken Lloyd, from PacWest, and Eric Dombrowski, from Ecoverse, who piqued his interest at what a Doppstadt high-torque shredder could offer the landfill.
After a weeklong demonstration of the Doppstadt INVENTHOR 6, shredding everything from green waste, to mattresses, tires, and municipal solid waste, Reed and the City were well impressed. By replacing the high-speed grinder with the versatile INVENTHOR 6, the city could more than handle their green waste capacity and expand their process to include more challenging materials, on far less fuel and wear parts than they had been using.
On the screening side, The City also received a demonstration of a Doppstadt SM 720.2K trommel screen. It only took a few hours to show that they could produce three times the material with the Doppstadt than the current unit.
Evaluating the demonstrations, Richland’s City Council easily saw the value and approved the purchase of the INVENTHOR 6 and SM 720.2K from PacWest. And just like that, Richland’s landfill and compost facility had been transformed into a more efficient and productive operation. The shredder makes an excellent compost feedstock, and the trommel creates a great finished product.
“The product coming out of the SM 720.2K is perfect for what I want,” said Reed. “There is no fine product in my overs. It’s just cooking and it’s awesome.”
And the City loves the way the shredder allows them to process tires on-site, rather than haul them out of state as they had done before. “The multipurpose use of the INVENTHOR is so handy to have at a landfill,” said Reed.
The fuel efficiency was a big part of the decision to go with Doppstadt, said Reed. Their old grinder burned 24 gallons an hour on average, and their trommel was a thirsty machine, too. The INVENTHOR burns less than 6 gallons per hour on average, and the SM 720.2K tops out at 3 gallons per hour.
“We were fueling the old machines every day,” said Reed. “We’re only filling up the Doppstadt machines every few days, and that’s only if we’re running them every day.”
With some equipment, low fuel consumption can be a compromise on power and throughput, but Richland’s production hasn’t suffered a bit. In fact, production is way up with the new machines. The old trommel had to run every day. With the SM 720.2K, they need to screen at most, three days per week.
The INVENTHOR 6 and SM 720.2K have really streamlined things for the landfill crew. On top of the efficiency and productivity, the machines are easy to operate and service.
“They’re user friendly,” said Reed, adding, “my guys are very happy with these machines because now they’re not killing themselves five days a week. It’s allowed us to do other projects and still stay caught up.”
Reed and the City have been impressed by the machines’ performance, but even more so with PacWest’s professional and attentive support.
“When we were in the process of evaluating our needs, Ken Lloyd of PacWest bent over backwards. He was there every phone call, every visit. He was great.”
“Every time I have a question, they have an answer,” Reed said. “Even if they don’t have the answer, they call somebody and get me the answer. It’s much different than you get anywhere else. That’s why we went with Doppstadt. It was a no-brainer.”
Visit ecoverse.net to learn more about how Ecoverse can help streamline your operation.