More efficiency with Hardox 500 Tuf for containers
With Hardox® 500 Tuf, the construction can be made thinner. A higher payload and lower energy consumption are achieved.
Roll-off and set-down containers for all sectors and areas of application are part of the product range of Sirch Behältertechnik. Production takes place in Kaufbeuren and Löbichau, Germany. Sirch is one of the first companies in Europe to use Hardox® 500 Tuf in the construction of roll-off containers. With Hardox® 500 Tuf, the construction can be made thinner. A higher payload and lower energy consumption are achieved - without sacrificing wear behaviour.
”We do not see ourselves as a mass producer, but offer our customers special solutions in premium quality. The user receives exactly the product that enables the highest economic efficiency in use. No container from mass production can fulfil this,” explains Thomas Krol, Managing Director at the Löbichau plant. ”We have a wide range of technical solutions and know-how in the company. We are always open to innovations. Requirements are becoming more and more demanding. Our containers are premium products.”
Sirch had been informed about the new steel via the SSAB newsletter. ”As part of SSAB’s technical support, we then presented the new Hardox® 500 Tuf wear-resistant steel at Sirch” explains Volker Winkler from SSAB’s sales department. In terms of processing, the steel is as good-natured as Hardox® 450, but with 500 HBW it is significantly harder, which leads to less wear in heavy-duty applications. After brief processing tests, it was quickly decided to manufacture several roll-off containers in accordance with DIN 30722 in the design of the Powerbox series. The design was adapted to the changed material thickness. The container series at Sirch are designed according to the modular principle and, in combination with a high vertical range of manufacture, also enable special requests to be implemented quickly and on time.
”The Powerbox has been designed for the toughest of applications. Our customers come from the scrap recycling sector, for example, but they also transport wood, used tyres, construction waste and much more. We trust in the performance values of Hardox® 500 Tuf presented to us. This allows us to reduce the thickness of the base and side wall by up to 1 mm. For the customer, this means more payload due to a lower container weight. We have not observed any restrictions in the stability of the container. Another advantage is the frame-free construction of the Powerbox. This is not only good for attaching advertising. It also reduces air resistance while driving on the road,” explains Thomas Meiner, operations manager at Sirch’s Löbichau plant.
The lower dead weight of the containers also means less moving mass during the unavoidable empty runs. The smooth-walled construction of the containers reduces air resistance during transport. Both lead to fuel savings of up to 23%, as measurements on defined transport routes have shown.
New containers in use for a year now
The Frankfurt recycling company RMR received the first two Sirch Powerbox containers made of Hardox® 500 Tuf over a year ago now. ”Our experience with the new containers has been thoroughly positive,” says the company. In general, the quality of Sirch containers made of Hardox® has always been appreciated. Containers from other manufacturers without Hardox® show dents or other deformations more quickly due to daily use, is the experience of the recycling company. The new power boxes made of Hardox® 500 Tuf are extremely torsion-resistant and dimensionally stable, even though they have thinner walls.
”After a good year of tough use now, the containers show no signs of deformation. The other components, such as the container rollers, are also robustly constructed and are more resistant than in other models. The high-quality doors have their good closing/opening mechanism as on the first day,” says a company spokesperson from RMR.
