Partnership drives recycling, composting

Investing in Komptech CEA machines has supported the growth of NORF and the Taking Care Group in South Australia. Colin Miller explains why the relationship is vital.

“We are quiet achievers, and we’re very proud of what we’ve been able to do.”

That’s Colin Miller, the Director of Rosmech, North Organic Repurposing Facility (NORF), and Taking Care Group. He’s been involved in wastewater management since 1997. Working with the Patawalonga and Torrens Catchment boards, his team removed gross pollutant traps (GPTs) from water drains.

“Over time, the boards became more knowledgeable and wanted us to recycle the organic material being pulled out of the GPTs,” he says.

“In this early stage, the recycling industry was still in its infancy. It was hard to get to the locations, and they were charging more than the local dumps were.”

Colin and his team started investing in new equipment, primarily road sweepers. It led to winning a contract with the City of Norwood Payneham and St Peters. This contract helped snowball the road-sweeping services to be what is believed to be the largest road-sweeping company in the Southern Hemisphere.

Pushing out more than 200 road sweepers daily, Colin decided to buy Rosmech, the importer of road sweeping machines, into Australia.

“When we bought Rosmech, it had about two per cent of the Australian market. It’s now closer to 40 per cent,” Colin says.

Recycling and composting

In the past few years, Rosmech has expanded into the composting and recycling sectors by purchasing a 50 per cent share in Taking Care of Trees. This led to a series of opportunities for Colin and his companies.

“When we bought the share in Taking Care of Trees, we took advantage of new opportunities for grinding material,” he says. “As we increased the amounts of organic material from the road sweepers and now tree mulch, I wanted to do something with it all. I’ve always valued this material as a resource.”

To expand the business, Colin and the Taking Care Group bought a company located on a 143-acre property in the north of Adelaide. They renamed it the Northern Organics Repurposing Facility, or NORF.

“We have thousands of tonnes of material that we create on-site and a sales arm, New Earth, that sells the soils, mulches, and composts we make. As a set of companies, we are firmly entrenched in the circular economy and working towards total immersion in it,” Colin says.

Right machines for the job

NORF and Taking Care Group were looking for the right machine, so spoke with Komptech CEA. The Terminator shredder was ideal for the large pieces of waste they wanted to repurpose.

“The Terminator is a slow-speed device,” says Colin. “When we changed to it from a high-speed machine, we were really impressed. The support and understanding from Komptech CEA ensured that we continue to invest in their products.”

More machines came from Komptech CEA: a Crambo for shredding with variable screens and an X53 windrower for turning over the raw material windrowed stockpiles. These three products required servicing but led to positive conversations with Komptech CEA.

“Previously, we relied exclusively on Komptech CEA to service the machines. However, we talked with them about our business ability to service and maintain the machines,” Colin says. “I was pleased that the service manager at CEA grabbed that opportunity with both hands. The importance of clear communication of our capabilities ensured that he knew our experienced team would do a good job of looking after the machines.”

Service and support

CEA has provided information about service intervals, workshop manuals and after-sales support. This internal support has extended to training staff to perform higher levels of the Terminator and Crambo service and maintenance.

“What made us buy the Terminator was that the machines transport weight was reduced,” Colin says. “That meant the costs were lower for freighting it to different sites. We didn’t need a lot of specialist equipment to move the machine. It was far simpler and safer.”

The local support and the ability to buy spare parts was another critical consideration for Colin. While a specific part was outside Adelaide, it was definitely in Australia. That security was vital for continuing to work with Komptech CEA.

“During our regular maintenance schedules, we could place an order and know the part would arrive within a certain time frame,” Colin says. “It would allow us to take that machine offline to replace the part, and we would build that into our scheduled servicing timetable. That’s a big plus for us.”

For more information, visit: www.komptechcea.com.au or www.takingcareoftrees.com.au

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