It's Here! - CablePrice

TRACK & WHEELIn September of 2005, Australian metal recyclingcompany CMA Recycling bought AucklandbasedScrap Metal Recyclers. Re-branded undertheir Australian parent company’s name, CMAhas entered new markets and expanded theiroperations in the upper North Island of NewZealand by the addition of a Tauranga branch tocompliment the existing Auckland and Hamiltonoperations.Auckland Area Manager, Brett Howlett says “CMA seesrecycling as a key component in the process of modernwaste management. We help to significantly reduce the wasteof potentially useful materials through resale, reduce theconsumption of finite raw materials, energy, and contribute to abetter environment through responsible recycling.”The industry has been through a rollercoaster ride with metalprices over the past couple of years, and although our economyis currently depressed, Brett says CMA is experiencing steadydemand for processed scrap metal. Although you might expectChina to be the major contributor to this demand, he says “itis going to steel mills all over the world, with places like Asiabeing the hungriest for scrap metal, which they use to melt downand recycle into other products – thus the conservation of finitenatural resources.”Although the economic downturn has had an impact on CMA -along with almost every other business in the country – Brett says“the company has continued to invest in plant and machinery toensure a more efficient operation that improves productivity andreduces operating costs. Any efficiency that we can make in anyarea is a bonus. The cheaper we can process scrap material for,the more beneficial it is for us.”An example of this approach has been the introduction of a 33-ton Hitachi ZX330LC-3 excavator fitted with a La Bounty MSD2500R front attachment hydraulic shear. Prior to this CMA useda static shear to cut their steel, as well as gas cutting. Whilethey still do a little manual gas cutting, Brett says “the HitachiZX330LC-3 with shear attachment is a lot more versatile becauseof its mobility and the fact it can rotate”.Prior to their purchase, the Auckland recyclers had littleexperience with Hitachi excavators, yet for their new owners,CMA Recycling in Australia, it was a different story. Specialisingin contracting and demolition CMA attach specialist recyclingattachments to base model excavators, typically in the 20 – 35tonne class. “In Australia the company brought about 12 newmachines off Hitachi last year alone” says Brett.In Auckland CMA Recycling focuses on collection, processingand recycling of predominantly secondary ferrous and non-ferrousmetal products and utilise specialist high-rise-cab scrap recyclingprocessors. So when it came to adding an excavator fitted witha cutting shear to the operation, Brett says the company drew ontheir Australian parents knowledge and experience of Hitachi’sreliability and performance.Brett says the selection of the base model was predetermined bythe size of the shear and the lifting capacity and hydraulic flowrequired for operating it. CMA, in consultation with CablePrice,spec’ed the Hitachi ZX330LC-3 with an additional 750kg on topof the standard counterweight, to ensure additional stability andbalance when lifting and using the six-and-a-half-tonne shear. Notsurprisingly for the conditions it works in, additional cab guardingand piping were also specified, as well as a foot pedal control forthe shear.“The machine runs every day and doesn’t give us any trouble atall” says Brett. Having been put to work at the beginning of theyear, the ZX330LC-3 now has just less than 1,400 hours on theclock.TO THE NEXT PAGE17