There are a lot of variables customers need to consider when purchasing a roll-off container.
Roll-off containers have come a long way in how they’re constructed over the year.
Today, roll-off containers are stronger, more efficient and more specialized than ever before. The size of the task, the duration of the job and even the nature of the materials being hauled all play a factor in helping customers decide what their best option might be.
By addressing a few questions, customers can determine the type of roll-off container that can best handle the job at hand.
Believe it or not, location can play a big role in determining which type of container is best. Rectangular roll-off containers are mostly ordered in the Northeast. They resemble containers often seen on cargo ships that are made of reinforced steel to accommodate the densest and most rugged waste material.
Tub containers, conversely, are used more often in southern and southwestern states. They're smooth-sided and stackable, with no outer rail structure. They're ideal for signage and easy-to-apply decals, depending on what is required for a job's visibility.
The amount of debris being hauled will ultimately vary from project to project. Selecting the correct size for one’s job site can help save time and money. Knowing which size best accommodates each job is critical in the roll-off selection.
10 yards: The smallest roll-off container, typically holding between 2 to 3 tons, is the most agile. Operators can wheel 10-yard roll-offs into tight spaces for easy loading of anything from simple home cleanouts to hauling away concrete and dirt. These can also handle small-scale jobs of heavy-duty material.
15 yards: 15-yard roll-offs, which also hold between 2 to 3 tons, are good for hauling out a lot of concrete or bulkier items such as bathroom fixtures. These are also a good fit for cleanouts of various types of waste, from plywood to fencing to larger metal pieces. These are perfect for the disposal of old roof shingles, paving stones and other materials generated from renovation work.
20 yards: Most jobs call for the 20- or 30-yard roll-off container capable of holding roughly six pickup truck loads of material. This container features more room for landscaping debris such as removal of rocks, sod and trees. This is ideal for multi-level tasks, such as cleanouts and renovations, where approximately 3 tons of material need to be hauled.
30 yards: For longer-term jobs that involve more substantial materials totaling between 3.5 and 5 tons, the 30-yard roll-off can be a good investment thanks to its larger capacity and higher wall construction. These containers may be used for cleaning out furniture, renovations and a landscaping makeover all at once, for example.
40 yards: Contractors and property owners often call for the largest of roll-off containers capable of holding 5 to 6 tons. High walls allow users to stack waste material for removal. It’s the top choice for the biggest jobs in demolition, renovation and restoration.
How long a customer needs a roll-off depends entirely on the job. Weather and time of year can also factor into how long the customer will need to keep the container since these variables can delay projects. Keep in mind that cold-weather regions and rainy seasons can impact a job’s completion schedule which, in return, can impact how long the roll-off will be needed.
The maximum weight permitted for a container is 10 tons, regardless of the size. However, the density is another story. 10-yard through 20-yard roll-off containers are ideal for heavy items like dirt, concrete and shingles. Items such as mattresses and pallets—high in surface area but low in density—easily fit into a 40-yard container with room for much more material.
Once a container has been filled, there are several ways the container can be taken from the site.
These highly durable haulers are built with high-strength structural steel tubing. Equipped with inside and outside controls, they offer flexibility and dependability.
The top choice for maneuverability or versatility, these are ideal for hauling shorter containers and retrieving them from tight spaces. Hook hoists allow a driver to retrieve a container without having to step outside the cab, removing the risk of exposure to the elements or risk of slipping in icy conditions.
Innovation: Roll-off containers have come a long way. Rather than beef up the amount of steel in a structure for strength, some manufacturers use higher tensile strength gauge steel to maximize the payload and improve the container’s strength. For example, Wastequip’s RockBox Roll-Off Containers are made with Hardox wear plates, which are four times stronger than ordinary mild steel grades while weighing 20 percent less and lasting twice as long as traditional heavy-duty roll-off containers, the company says. This technology provides strength while minimizing the weight of the container to allow for more scrap weight.
Disaster relief: When hurricanes and tornadoes hit, roll-off container providers stay ahead of the game. Some roll-off container companies deploy their services to regions hit by catastrophic weather events to streamline recovery.
Expertise: Each job is unique. It helps to have an expert in the field of waste collection and removal to offer the most comprehensive and cost-efficient solutions. Customers should check out companies in their area and call a representative to find the best solution.
Safety and durability: It’s crucial that anyone using roll-off containers stay safe. The following safety features should be considered when choosing a roll-off.
Heavy-gauge steel: A roll-off container is only as strong as its floor and walls. Look for fully welded inseams and rust-inhibiting primer inside and out.
Safety standards: The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) establishes safety requirements for products such as roll-off containers. Companies deploying roll-offs should make sure they’re ANSI-certified before working with them.
Flexibility: The right roll-off container for the job goes a long way in giving customers the most for their money and the safest experience. Companies should look for a provider that offers custom solutions and adaptable options for one’s needs.
Greg Shields is a steel product manager at Wastequip.
The list shows the most common safety citations issued by the association.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced its preliminary top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety standards for fiscal year 2020.
In a webinar with Safety+Health magazine on Feb. 26, Patrick Kapust, deputy director of OSHA's Directorate of Enforcement Programs, presented the preliminary data. Kevin Druley, Safety+Health associate editor, moderated the session.
Although multiple standards swapped positions in the top 10 list, violations from 2019 to 2020 did not change. Ladders violations climbed to a top-five spot, and respiratory protection violations rose to the third rank, up from fifth. Additionally, the data shows that fall protection—general requirements is OSHA's most frequently cited standard for the 10th successive fiscal year.
"In a year that was defined by the ongoing pandemic, workplace safety became more important than ever," National Safety Council (NSC) president and CEO Lorraine M. Martin says. "The OSHA top 10 list reminds us why we must continue to focus on persistent safety risks as we navigate new challenges. These data help us pinpoint areas where we can improve so we can better prioritize workplace safety in the future world of work."
The top 10 violations for 2020 are:
1. Fall Protection—General Requirements (1926.501): 5,424 violations
8. Fall Protection—Training Requirements (1926.503): 1,621 violations
9. Personal Protective and Life Saving Equipment—Eye and Face Protection (1926.102): 1,369 violations
In the U.S. and Canada, waste and recycling facility fires resulted in 23 reported injuries and three deaths in 2020.
Fires at waste and recycling facilities in the U.S. and Canada continue to be a major problem for the industry, according to the “4th Annual Reported Waste & Recycling Facility Fires US/CAN” report compiled by West Bloomfield, Michigan-based Fire Rover.
The report, which compiles various fire-related data pertaining to the waste and recycling industry in the U.S. and Canada, shows that publicly reported fires totaled 272 in 2016, 290 in 2017, 365 in 2018, 345 in 2019, and 317 in 2020. The average for the 5-year period is 318 per year. The company tracks these fires based on media-reported incidents.
Of the 317 reported fires in 2020, 158 occurred in facilities that process waste, paper and plastic; 108 occurred in facilities that process scrap metal; 20 occurred in facilities that process organics; four occurred in facilities that process chemicals; eight occurred in facilities that process C&D; seven occurred in facilities that process rubber; and 12 occurred in facilities that process e-scrap.
These fires were responsible, either directly or indirectly, for 23 reported injuries and three deaths in 2020.
When tracked from 2016 to 2020, facilities that process waste, paper and plastic accounted for 49 percent of fires; 32 percent occurred in facilities that process scrap metal; 7 percent occurred in facilities that process organics, 3 percent occurred in facilities that process chemicals; 3 percent occurred in facilities that process C&D; 3 percent occurred in facilities that process rubber; and 2 percent occurred in facilities that process e-scrap.
The states with the most reported fires in 2020 include California, Ohio, Texas, New York, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Massachusetts, South Carolina and Pennsylvania.
The report also tracks what it calls “total known fire incidents” in waste and recycling facilities. This data combines the number of publicly reported fires with the number of fire incidents that Fire Rover suppression systems put out in a given year. These data show that total known fire incidents totaled 297 in 2016, 353 in 2017, 441 in 2018, 468 in 2019 and 524 in 2020.
The report cites six typical causes of these fires and fire incidents:
The full report is available online.
While demand for copper is muted in the March buying period, aluminum scrap is in demand and supply is tight.
Scrap processors point to strong pricing for copper and aluminum scrap, though the volatility in copper pricing is making at least one scrap processor long for consistency.
“I would like to see a little bit of stability,” says Todd Safran of copper and brass processor Safran Metals in Chicago. “Everyone loves to see a higher market, but it’s a matter of knowing that the price today will be similar to the price tomorrow.”
The Comex spot copper contract reached $3.99 per pound March 5, a decrease of 10.3 cents per pound from the previous week, according to Davis Index. During the last week of February, the Comex spot copper contract had reached $4.30 per pound.
This volatility can mean that scrap consumers are interested one day and not the next day, Safran says. “When we see the price pull back, consumers jump in to buy.” However, he adds, “A lot of consumers are taking what they need and nothing more.”
While copper scrap buying may be somewhat muted currently, the growth of green energy could lead to increased demand for the red metal in the future, which likely will increase demand for copper scrap.
During the Fastmarkets Copper Seminar March 11-12, Boris Mikanikrezai, a researcher with Fastmarkets, said copper demand will strengthen as the world transitions to green energy. He noted that offshore wind energy requires 22 pounds of copper per kilowatt, which is 4.5-times more than nuclear energy and five-times more than coal energy.
More generally, global industrial production is forecast to increase by 6 percent this year, Mikanikrezai said, with the automotive sector leading that growth, prompting increased demand for refined copper. He predicted a 16 percent increase in motor vehicle production this year.
Longer term, he said, the electric vehicle (EV) “revolution” would lead to increased refined copper demand, noting that a battery electric vehicle (BEV) consumes roughly 183 pounds of refined copper compared with the 51 pounds used in internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle uses about 132 pounds of refined copper, which is roughly three-times more than an ICEV, and an electric bus contains 814 pounds of refined copper, largely in its battery.
Mikanikrezai said global BEV sales are expected to grow by 26 percent per year on average by 2030, with Europe likely to experience the strongest growth of 28 percent on average, followed by China at 27 percent and the U.S. at 23 percent.
While these figures could point to growing demand for copper scrap in the future, demand for aluminum scrap presently is strong.
“Spreads are very tight and there seems to be a shortness of scrap,” says Matt Kripke of aluminum scrap brokerage firm Kripke Enterprises Inc., headquartered in Toledo, Ohio. He adds that demand for coil, billets, slab and cans has exceeded the pace of scrap generation, causing spreads to tighten. “We’re 30 to 60 days away from getting back to equilibrium,” he says as of March 11. Once scrap generation catches up with demand, he says he expects the spread to begin to widen.
Some of that scrap is likely to come from the winter storms that hit much of the country in February, particularly Texas, where ice and snow are rare, Kripke says, as damaged gutters and downspouts are replaced. “A lot of scrap will hit the market.”
As of early March, however, a contact with a scrap processor that has operations in the Midwest and Southeast says, “It doesn’t seem like there is enough scrap. All the rolling mills are busy and in need of scrap. Secondary smelters are the same.”
He says demand is strong for most aluminum grades, with the exception of aerospace scrap, and he expects the tightness in the scrap supply to linger through the second quarter.
“It’s hard to tell if demand is that strong or if the supply is that weak,” Kripke says. “You can sell anything you can get your hands on. You can name the price if you have material.”
While he says export demand for aluminum scrap “had kind of a moment five or six months ago when the Midwest premium dipped,” as that premium strengthened, it has been hard for export buyers to pull aluminum scrap out of the U.S. because they cannot be competitive on price.
As challenging as the tightness is in the aluminum scrap sector, Kripke says the bigger challenge has been transportation, pointing to increasing costs and reduced availability.
The processor with operations in the Midwest and Southeast describes trucking as being “expensive and in short supply and frustrating,” adding that “reliability is terrible.”
The acquisition expands Keestrack’s footprint in agricultural and construction markets.
Keestrack, a Belgium-based manufacturer of mining, recycling and construction equipment, has signed an agreement to acquire Goldoni S.p.A., an Italian manufacturer of agricultural and construction machinery. The acquisition allows Keestrack to enter the agricultural market and to grow more in the construction segment.
“After decades of organic growth, we’re glad to continue our growth by expanding our business into the agricultural segment,” says Kees Hoogendoorn, president of Keestrack. “After analyzing many opportunities, we felt personally drawn to Goldoni for its rich traditional family values, which are very close to ours. Our goal is to keep this historic brand alive, supporting the local economy and employment rates.”
“We see a lot of synergy between the current businesses, such as production systems, suppliers and dealer network, which will leverage the Goldoni business to bring success to the company,” adds Peter Hoogendoorn, vice president of operations of Keestrack.
According to a news release from Keestrack, the company says it plans to restart the Goldoni tractors production as soon as possible, focusing on making specialized tractors, transcars and most cultivators.
“The product portfolio will meet the customers’ requirements,” says Roberto Lopes, Keestrack Italy CEO. “We look to the future and want to introduce the K-series open-field tractors in the near future. The Goldoni dealer network, in synergy with Keestrack’s, will be the key to make the orange Goldoni tractors strong on the fields again.”
Goldoni has been around since 1926. According to Keestrack, Goldoni experienced a 50 million euro turnover (or about $60 million) in 2018. The family-owned company shares the same values as Keestrack and listens well to customers’ needs. Keestrack reports that Goldoni “stands for a high technology level, with care for the environment, Italian traditions and passion for design.” With the acquisition, Keestrack says it will save 110 Goldoni jobs as well.