STADLER has reached an impressive milestone with the production of its 1,000th ballistic separator. The machine was purchased by Vaersa, a company providing waste management and remediation activities in the Valencia region, in Spain. The STT5000_6_1 ballistic separator was delivered to the Vaersa light packaging sorting plant in Castellón on September 28th, where it just started operation.
STADLER won Vaersa’s public tender for the supply of the ballistic separators with the score. “We are pleased to be working with STADLER. We already knew of their excellent reputation and that it is a brand of reference in the waste sorting sector,” stated Noelia Almiñana, Head of Vaersa’s waste management department.
“The demand for ballistic separators in the Spanish market has risen very fast, driven by the automatization of recycling plants, which have also significantly increased their capacity,” explains Luis Sánchez, Director of Operations at the Spanish STADLER Selecciona SLU. “Without ballistic separators it would be very difficult to achieve these twin objectives. As a result, today more than 75% of recycling plants in Spain rely on these machines. At STADLER, we pioneered this technology and have constantly improved and upgraded its performance over the years. That is why companies like Vaersa choose our ballistic separators. The STT5000_6_1 is a perfect match for the sorting plant in Castellón and it delivers the benefits of remarkably low maintenance costs.”
Willi Stadler with the 1000th Stadler ballistic separator
Pioneering ballistic separators lead to long-lasting partnership
A global market leader in ballistic separators, STADLER has pioneered this highly efficient and cost-effective solution. Development started in the early 1990s, and the first four STT2000 units were delivered in 1992 to Fischer for its sorting plant in Ravensburg, in Germany.
“Today our ballistic separators are very effective and extremely durable, but the initial development wasn’t easy,” explains Willi Stadler at STADLER. “It was very difficult at the time to build a machine robust enough to endure the challenges of waste. We didn’t have a specially developed shaft, so we purchased one from the agricultural sector. However, this shaft was not designed for use with waste and wasn’t as durable as we would have liked.”
Mr. Hans Fuchs, who was Plant Manager at Fischer at the time, was impressed with STADLER’s approach to resolving the issue: "In the beginning we experienced some problems because the shaft was not specifically designed for garbage use. STADLER was a pioneer in the field of waste sorting at that time, and pioneering work is always difficult. It is understandable that it takes a certain amount of time to solve all the problems that arise, which STADLER then did very well.”
In fact, the team at Fischer were so satisfied that they purchased two further machines for their sorting plant in Villingen-Schwenningen. This was the beginning of a lasting relationship with STADLER, which continues to date. Fischer was later acquired by Remondis, which remains a loyal customer.
“Today the STADLER ballistic separators are flawless and fulfil their purpose excellently,” says Mr. Fuchs, who has remained with the company and is now employed by Remondis. “Our machine from 2012 has clocked many more operating hours than STADLER guarantees and the shafts still work perfectly and have never had to be replaced.”
The reasons for such a strong and long-standing relationship also lie in the quality of support and advice STADLER has provided over the years: “During the several renovations and optimizations of our paper sorting plant, STADLER has been at our side with help and advice,” explains Mr. Fuchs. “They have always found the best solution for us to make the line even more effective. The service around maintenance and spare parts is also always very good. In the 2000s, we started to develop a concept for plant inspections together with STADLER in order to avoid damage and problems during high material times (such as Christmas or Easter). As a result, we had never had a system downtime or major repairs.”
