Canter 7.5-tonner goes to waste for Viridor

Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A Mitsubishi Fuso Canter with a body specially designed to transport drums of hazardous waste has gone into service with waste management specialist Viridor.

The 7C18D 7.5-tonner crew cab makes collections from local authority sites and businesses across the South West. The cargo is then taken to Viridor’s processing plant at Dimmer near Castle Cary in Somerset.

Based in Taunton, the Canter is equipped with a liquid-tight body built by Trans Load of Andover. It has a curtained nearside to ease loading and unloading but a solid offside. A gas extraction unit has been fitted along with a tail-lift and shoring poles are used to stop the cargo moving around in transit.

Canters are well-known for their competitive payload capacity and Viridor’s can carry up to 2,400kg, despite its crew cab. Usually the Canter is manned by a driver and a chemist but the size of the cab means that larger teams can be deployed if necessary. Sourced from Yeovil dealer Commercial Motors (South West), the Canter succeeds a 6.3-tonne Canter that did the same job for seven years.

“We went for the 7.5-tonner this time because we wanted the extra carrying capacity,” says Viridor technical waste manager, Steve Yerbury. “The amount of waste being generated by households and businesses is increasing all the time. We dispose of anything from oil, petrol, paint, solvents and cleaners to pesticides and lab chemicals,” he says. “The only items we don’t handle are explosives and radioactive materials. Our last Canter covered 400,000km and proved extremely reliable; so much so that we’ve decided to keep it in service,” he adds.

Viridor Waste Management operates from 240 locations across the UK, including 24 landfill sites and 50 recycling facilities.

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