I haven't had a chance to get in depth on this, but it seems like there are some visible differences in how machine shops handle chip recycling, especially from CNC mills. It seems like there's more to the story here. What I've tended to see for handling CNC waste conveyor off feed Depending on how much the machine is used and the amount of waste produced, the processes for handling the waste chip coming off the conveyor can vary, but it seems that a lot of small to mid-size shops just drop a 30 or 55 gallon steel drum under the conveyor. That looks convenient for filling, but it seems like it may be a pain for emptying those drums of chip into larger, segregated rolloffs for alloy recycling. Forklifts never seems to have the drum handler mounted, so you have to mount that up, drive over to the mill (which is a "target rich environment" for a driver when you're talking $200k machines all over the place), mount up the drum, drive to the dumpster, dump, drive back, etc. A few of the more advanced shops I have seen have started to move to the larger heavy-duty tilt trucks on casters, like these: While they definitely aren't free, it just seems like a faster operation for recycling chip... park one at the conveyor, load it up, push it to dock and dump. Anyone make the changes over to tilt trucks, and has it saved labor? I'm curious if you have to be in a facility with a raised dock for these to really be a time savings (otherwise, you're still going to have to use a forklift for the final drop?)
We put our used chips in 55 gallon drums which are on plastic dollies with wheels. Each drum is a different color to symbolize what material is in it. When it is full our machinists wheel to the outside covered facility, and then grabs an empty one. We have our recycle company do pick ups, three times a week.
Hi Tammy- Does your recycling company take and dump the drums when they pick up, or does someone from the shop have to do that? And do you have to use a "specialty" recycler, or is it just part of your usual pickup company?
Here's a manufacturer of heavy-duty scrap hoppers I happened to come across when looking for recycling drop points... Wastequip is based out of Charlotte, and you can find local reps with button at top of linked page: http://www.wastequip.com/products/p...terialhandling/subcategory/selfdumpinghoppers
