c-trace has landed a major order to fit its dynamic weighing systems to Biffa Waste Services refuse and recycling collection vehicles after a successful six-month trial.

The German waste management software specialist has already fitted 20 fully-certified and legal-for-trade dynamic weighing systems to front-end loader (FEL) vehicles which it delivered to Biffa Waste Services in August.

And it will shortly start equipping 24 side-loader vehicles for food and glass collections to Biffa for delivery this winter.

c-trace is the leading supplier of dynamic bin weighing systems in Germany and several other European countries but this order is very significant for c-trace in the UK.

It follows a highly successful trial of the weighing system fitted to three trucks in September 2015 and evaluated over six months, followed by two retro fits in May 2016 after the trial was deemed a success.

The six-month trial planned by Biffa and c-trace aimed to assess: 

  • Technical merit
  • Ease of operation
  • Accuracy of the system 
  • Legal compliance
  • Productivity
  • Whole life costs
  • Reliabulity of the system

The c-trace system is capable of accurately measuring weights between 25kg and 3,000kg. It works by weighing the bin in the up cycle and comparing this to the weight of the empty bin in the down cycle.

Multiple measurements are taken each time and the emptying cycle does not need to stop or rest in operation.

Measurements are even compensated for tilt before being fed to a dedicated in-cab PDA which transfers the data either to a customer's secure internal back office software system or (if an individual customer chooses) to c-trace's own secure operational servers from where bills can be seamlessly prepared.

The system enables operators to manage their services more accurately and efficiently by identifying trends, identifying overladen bins and offers the potential to charge customers by the weight of their waste collected, which could be beneficial to both parties.


Biffa's FEL vehicles were all new units produced by Scania and Heil Farid with specially prepared forks. The trucks came direct from the Heil factory and the weighing systems were all fitted in a seven week programme.

Ian Martin, c-trace's UK sales director, said: 'We are delighted to gain such a prestigious customer as Biffa Waste Services after demonstrating that we have the right solutions to meet their needs.

'The trial went very well and the system was readily accepted by both the drivers and depot staff.

'The fitting was also exempliary. We worked closely with the Biffa and Heil Farid engineering teams to produce a robust and reliable mechanical-electrical interface without changing any of the familiar operating characteristics of the Heil Farid FEL.

'Our systems and are now fitted to more than 2,500 vehicles across Europe and the Middle East and also in Australia where they have proven themselves in quite remote places, needing very few service interventions.

'This order follows an expansion in the parts and service side of c-trace's UK operation. Here, we've already established a solid customer base of medium-sized, privately-owned waste management companies and local authorities and now we have our first national operator in Biffa Waste Services'