Alderney the third largest and most northerly island of the Channel Isles has recently taken delivery of a new Farid Minimatic 7.5t GVW refuse and recycling collection vehicle.
The island, an independent British Crown Protectorate and a constituent part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, governed by its own assembly, the States of Alderney, required a compact vehicle that could achieve high legal payloads whilst still being manoeuvrable enough to cope with the geographical constraints that come with island life.
The island is some three and a half miles long (5kms) and one and a half miles wide (2.5kms) with a resident population of around 2,400, increasing during the summer months to peak at around 4,000 during Alderney Week, the island's annual festival, which occurs during the first week in August.
The States Works Department identified the need for a new mini compaction refuse vehicle that could not only navigate the narrow roads of the island whilst achieving an excellent payload capability, but also required a vehicle that would be suitable for general household waste collections, dry recyclables collections plus green waste and food waste collections.
Following close evaluation of compaction vehicles available in the market place, Tim Birmingham, Superintendent of Works for the Island's States Works Department, decided that the Farid Minimatic 8m3 body complete with Farid comb bin lift mounted to a 7.5t GVW 4x2 Isuzu N75.190 Euro 5 chassis was the correct vehicle for the tasks ahead.
Coming from the Farid Satellite 'Mini Compactor' range of vehicles, the Farid Minimatic is a fully sealed; one piece construction body with compaction ratio of 3:1 with guaranteed no leakages, making it ideal for recycling or general waste collection.
The Minimatic comes with an integral Farid comb bin lift capable of handling bins from 120 litres up to 1,280 litres capacity and food waste caddies or 'slave type' bins.
Alternatively, hand loading is achieved by lowering the rear drop-down rave plate
that can be opened at a moments notice and safely stowed away using the bin lift. This, coupled with the large 8m3 body capacity makes the Minimatic also ideally suited for additional bulky waste collection services.
The unloading of waste is achieved by ejection plate, operated by a double acting
telescopic cylinder, ensuring complete discharge of all waste materials collected.
Tim Birmingham stated: 'The Farid Minimatic mounted to the 7.5t GVW Isuzu chassis is an ideal solution where restricted access is a problem and excellent manoeuvrability is required. The complete vehicle allows an impressive 2.5t legal payload and the simplicity of the machine coupled with great after-sales training support from Farid UK enables us to be fully self-sufficient for vehicle repairs & maintenance which is a definite plus for island life.'
