Cargotec’s business area Kalmar has provided a Kalmar reachstacker and a Kalmar forklift truck to handle special containers in the Swiss town of Kölliken where a consortium of companies is working to remove thousands of tonnes of industrial waste.

The town of Kölliken in Switzerland followed the regulations of the time for waste management and beginning in 1978, 350,000 tonnes of hazardous waste was deposited over a period of seven years in a clay-pit near the town. Now the waste, including heavy metals and chemical residues, endangers the nearby source of ground water and thus creates a serious problem for neighbouring communities. The site is being cleaned up by a joined venture Arge Phoenix, which was formed by four companies Eberhard Bau, Eberhard Recycling, Walo Bertschinger, Richi Weiningen and Ecosoil.

Walter Zwahlen, Kölliken Site Manager for Arge Phoenix, explained what the task entailed:

“This major cleaning project, a first of its kind in the world, was started in 2006 by building an enormous hall in which the air pressure is kept low, so as to prevent the escape of dust, gas and odours. Since 2007 November we have been digging up the waste with excavators and placing it into special containers. These containers, weighing 30 tonnes, are then sealed and loaded  by a Kalmar reachstacker onto trucks for transport. The Kalmar forklift truck is used to handle empty containers in the hall. In the next phase of the project, the containers will be transported by rail.”

“We know roughly what has been dumped on the site but we need to be sure before making decisions about the material’s remediation potential. Only after a thorough analysis, the waste is transported to different treatment centres. Some waste can be recycled, some can be burned and some needs to be buried deep in old salt mines. All of the waste should be removed from the site and treated by 2013.”

The Kalmar DRF450-60S5X reachstacker and Kalmar DCE100-6 forklift truck both have been optimised to operate inside the hall. A low speed limit, limited height and effective emissions filters all make it possible to use these machines inside.

Eberhard Bau and Eberhard Recycling are the contractors for the Kölliken deposit. Thomas Angehrn, Project Manager, Inventory for Eberhard Bau, said:

“We had many options for moving the containers in the hall but chose to use mobile equipment due to its flexibility and stability in lifting. We knew that Kalmar has the world’s best technology in container handling and we are sure we have made the right choice.

 “Contaminated soil is a serious problem but one which can be tackled with experience. Eberhard has been a pioneer for 40 years and continues to be so. ” 

The Kalmar reachstacker is a powerful, flexible tool for handling containers. It can handle loaded containers quickly and efficiently in narrow spaces, while still ensuring the driver has optimum visibility. The extensive freedom allowed by the lifting equipment, boom and attachment, and its rotation possibilities, means that the driver can improve the work efficiency of the unit by not needing to approach the container from a 90 degrees position. Instead, the container can be picked or dropped-off by the unit approaching from any angle