Sevier Solid Waste Gets Trommel Consistency and Reliability with Ecoverse

Sevier Solid Waste, Inc. (SSWI) in Pigeon Forge, TN operates the largest mixed co-composting facility in the nation and processes all the waste from the cities of Gatlinburg, Sevierville and Pigeon Forge, as well as Sevier County and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  

The facility processes 500 tons of MSW and biosolids per day and recently replaced its stationary trommel, a unit that had operated 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 15 years, with the same trommel model – only new, and with a key upgrade.

What led them to decide to replace their existing trommel? “The trommel has done a good job for us over the years,” says Sevier Solid Waste, Inc. General Manager Tom Leonard, “but it had a lot of wear and tear on the components and that was starting to cause downtime. It seemed like a good time to replace the unit rather than continue to rebuild all the components.”

Located in the Smoky Mountains, it’s important to SSWI and the area’s residents to preserve the area’s beauty and resources for future generations and the facility is extremely proud of the fact that it diverts 70% of the area’s entire waste stream from landfills through composting & recycling.

“We have 5 rotary drums that we process waste through to make compost and we are adding a sixth drum next month,” says Tom. “Everything comes in mixed in garbage trucks. We push everything into our rotary drums to break open the bags and mix the waste for composting. After moving through these digesters for 3 days, all the organic waste becomes compost. Then we use the stationary trommel to screen the material on the first pass. The screen separates all the compost and smaller items out from the plastics, tin, and aluminum.”

After 15 years of faithful and dependable service, SSWI worked with Ecoverse to install the same model of stationary trommel, but with an upgraded hardox drum.

“We did consider some other trommels but we felt like this was the best choice,” says Tom. “It has done such a good job and been so reliable for years that we felt like this was the best choice for our system. Also, some of the others we considered didn’t exactly fit the existing concrete bunker that the unit sits on. I was concerned that modifying the bunker or the unit would cause problems in the future.”

Sometimes the more things stay the same, the more they change after all.

Even though the new trommel is the same model as their last one, the key upgrade is its hardox drum. So, how is it working out for SSWI? “So far, it looks like it is doing well,” according to Tom. “The hardox is a first for us so we hope it lasts much longer than mild steel. Because of the height, it isn’t easy to change a drum, so we want it to last as long as possible.”

Speaking of the height, the trommel sits on a 12-foot high concrete bunker. “Installation was a little bit of a challenge,” says Tom. “We had to have two cranes to set it into place and the coordination was tricky. It went well because Ecoverse was here to assist us with the installation. It operates the same and hasn’t changed our operations at all. We are very happy that it is doing a consistent job for us.”

SSWI is a Solid Waste Authority and as such, generates revenue from tipping fees. It also sells its final compost product to farmers and soil blenders and provides free compost to local residents for use in gardens and landscaping. It’s truly part of the circular economy, where the area’s waste is transformed into compost and put back into the Earth as natural fertilizer.

SSWI has exciting things planned for its future, including enhanced recycling with its new Tiger depackaging machine, and diverting even more waste from the landfill. It’s been a reliable, consistent organics processing operation serving the beautiful Smoky Mountains for decades, and will continue to do so, with the help of its new stationary trommel.

To learn more about Sevier Solid Waste, Inc., visit https://www.seviersolidwaste.com/.

Ecoverse^® provides North America the best engineered and well-made environmental processing equipment that adds value to waste products by converting them into usable end products. Launched in 2001 with the introduction of Doppstadt^® shredders, grinders, and trommel screens, we now offer BACKHUS^® compost turners, Backers star screens, Tiger depackaging systems, EcoSift density separators, EcoStack conveyors, Ecoscreen trommels and scalping screens, Menart tow-behind compost turners, and Roco rock crushers and scalping screens. We also offer know-how, experience, and expertise to help guide you towards the right mobile and stationary machines for your needs, your operations, and your budget to help you do more, better.

Contact us to learn how we can take your environmental processing to the next level of production and profitability.