5 ways to Keep Conveyor Belts Clean and Operational at Recycling Plants
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keep conveyor belts clean

Keep conveyor belts clean: Ensuring your conveyor belts remain clean and operational is essential to prevent productivity loss and safety hazards at any materials recycling plant. Conveyor belt spillages, carryback, and downtime can lead to increased maintenance costs, reduced output, and even workplace accidents. As a recycling plant manager, it is crucial to implement preventive measures to help maintain your conveyor belts in optimal condition and avoid these issues.

 

In this blog post, we’ll go over some practical ways to keep your conveyor belts clean and operational, preventing spillages, carryback, and downtime at a materials recycling plant.

  1. Regular Maintenance and Inspection

Regular maintenance and inspection are essential to keep your conveyor belts clean and operational. An efficient maintenance program should include scheduled inspections, cleaning, lubrication of your conveyor belts as well as replacement of any worn or damaged parts. Inspections should be conducted by trained staff who can identify potential issues before they cause significant problems.

  1. Proper Cleaning Techniques

Proper cleaning techniques are necessary to prevent spillages and carryback on your conveyor belts. Dry cleaning methods, such as vacuum and air blast cleaning, can effectively remove dirt and debris without causing corrosion. Water and detergents are commonly used to clean conveyor belts, but excessive moisture can cause rust and damage to bearings, rollers, and other components.

  1. Conveyor Belt Scrapers

Conveyor belt scrapers are an effective way to prevent carryback and maintain a clean conveyor belt surface. The scraper works by scraping material off the conveyor belt before it reaches the end pulley, preventing material buildup and spillages. Different types of scraper systems, including primary, secondary, and urethane scrapers, offer varying degrees of cleaning efficiency.

  1. Training and Safety

Training and safety measures are critical to prevent workplace accidents and ensure proper use of conveyor belts. Staff should receive training on operating, maintaining, and inspecting conveyor belts to prevent unsafe working conditions and costly accidents. Safety barriers and sensors should be in place to detect blockages and provide automatic shut-off in an emergency.

  1. Conveyor Belt Tracking

Conveyor belt tracking issues are a common problem at recycling plants, leading to belt misalignment and excessive wear on components. Belt tracking can be improved by installing tracking rollers, ensuring proper belt tensioning, identifying and repairing any damage to pulleys or supports, and reducing material spillages.

Keeping conveyor belts clean and operational is essential to prevent spillages, carryback, and downtime at a recycling plant. Regular maintenance and inspection, proper cleaning techniques, conveyor belt scrapers, training and safety, and conveyor belt tracking are practical measures that can help maintain your conveyor belts in optimal condition and avoid costly downtime. As a recycling plant manager, it is essential to implement these practices to ensure the safety of your staff, the productivity of your operations, and the efficiency of your equipment.

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MATT BEVERLEY

A time served Mechanical engineer Matt’s background includes many high-profile projects within the Automotive Industry: The Rolls Royce Phantom, Rolls Royce Cullinan, Spyker Le-Mans racing teams, Bentley, Aston Martin, and Airbus A380. This history and knowledge of complex manufacturing and engineering projects have been transferred and further developed into the bulk material handling sector. Matt has work in Europe, North America, Indonesia, and China

He joined the bulk solids and bulk handling industry in 2019 as Managing Director of Hoverdale UK Ltd and subsequently completed a Management buyout in July 2020. The business has grown yearly, increased employment, its customer base, and worldwide reputation, and disrupted the market with groundbreaking innovative technology. Since Matt took over Hoverdale, the company has filed four patents for innovation; one was granted in 2023 for a design to improve bulk handling. The success had been driven by delivering tailored solutions to the waste recycling sectors that keep material flowing out and money flowing in.

Awards Include

  • 2024 – Shapa company of the Year
  • 2024- Shapa Innovation in Technology
  • 2024- MHEA Engineer of the year
  • 2021 – MHEA Innovation of the year
  • 2021- IMechE Innovation award

Current Positions Include.

  • Group Chairman Hoverdale UK Ltd
  • President (MHEA) Material Handling Engineers Association
  • Vice Chairman: IMechE Bulk Material Handling Committee
  • Council Member: (SHAPA) Solids Handling & Particle Association
  • Member: Chartered Management Institute

Matt has been happily married to Julie for 22 years and has 4 children, 3 of which are involved within the Hoverdale group of companies. He is an RFU level 2 qualified coach and referee having been in several head coaching roles at various age groups from under 6’s to adults for his local team Nuneaton RFC. He believes in the core values that rugby teaches of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline, Sportsmanship and try’s to carry this through in his day to day business activities. He is passionate at brining the next generation of young, diverse engineers into the sector through promotion of apprenticeship scheme and further education routes.

DAVID BARTER

David is an experienced leader, with a background covering Operations, eCommerce, Finance, Compliance, HR and IT. His career spans Banking, Retail and Engineering, spending the majority of his career working for ALDI as they grew to become 4th largest supermarket in the UK, including seven years on their UK board as Managing Director of IT and eCommerce.

David joined Hoverdale’s Senior Management Team in 2023 to seek a fresh challenge in a completely different industry sector. He has applied his approach to Process Improvement, Efficiency, Customer Service and Teamwork to great effect during Hoverdale’s sustained growth.

Married to Jane, with three adult sons between them, David volunteers on the board of the Nottingham Playhouse theatre as well as his local rugby and football clubs. Any spare time he spends enjoying walks with their Golden Retriever, Buzz, who is also regularly seen in the Hoverdale office.

BEN DUCHESNE

Ben is a time serviced field service engineer in the busy waste and recycling sector, who’s career moved into to managing service teams and beyond. Originally beginning his career with a HGV repair and maintenance apprenticeship with IVECO, from there travelling and working in multiple countries moving towards waste processing shredders.

Ben joined the Hoverdale team in September 2024 seeking to apply his extensive knowledge to a new area. His values and ethics fit perfectly within the Hoverdale ethos.

He is happily married to Kristina, with 4 wonderful young children; 14, 11, 8 and 5. We the children he doesn’t get much spare time. He is a family man, who enjoys spending as much time with them as possible.