Rubble Master Secures Competitive Edge By Island-Hopping on The Azores

One of the most idyllic applications of all the RUBBLE MASTER compact recyclers has to be on the Azores west of Portugal. Here an RM80 with crawler gear is processing high demand gravel from lava rock which is screened to the desired sizes.

It was here in November 2003 that Marco and Antonio Silva decided to buy a compact RM60 with CS2500 final screen to strengthen their building company with a secure source of income. There was plenty of work awaiting a high-performance but small-scale (and therefore easy to transport) crusher like the RM60. After all, we must remember that Faial is an island. And what is not available on the island is expensive, due to the long transport routes. Sand is plentiful – it merely has to be dug up from the bed of the ocean. This service is handled by the company Silva, which has its own dredger excavator. There is, however, a lack of gravel. Even production costs for sand, including ocean transport and haulage to the site, amount to € 5 per tonne.

Environmental impact is also an important issue. And self-sufficiency is a basic principle on any island. Here there are sufficient supplies of lava rock. Until the Silvas' decision, however, there had been no technical solution to handle rubble recycling in the special situations found on the islands. It was not until the arrival of the RUBBLE MASTER Compact Recycler that this became possible. And so the ingenious entrepreneurs with a medium-sized building company with 25 employees, 8 lorries and a cargo boat, started out in the rubble recycling business: as the only company offering this service.

Rubble recycling is also possible on islands ; as proved by the compact RUBBLE MASTER RM60
(pictured here with CS2500 final screen) which is used on the Azores
to make valuable gravel using lava basalt and material from demolition work.

The valuable and much sought after crushed material can now be produced – even from demolished houses. To be able to transport the RM60 the Silva brothers simply placed it on two axles and can now reach all corners of the island with their mobile, "wheeled" crusher. But the RM60 is not only compact and mobile. With an overall weight of 11 tonnes it is also light enough to be transported by boat. This means that all 9 islands that make up the beautiful Azores can be accessed – for on-site recycling.

SUCCESS WITH NICHE APPLICATION – EXCELLENT UTILISATION FACTOR

The RM60 crushes some 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes per year , with average throughput at around 40 to 60 tonnes per hour. The main field of application is gravel production using natural rock : here lava basalt is crushed and sorted using the RUBBLE MASTER CS2500 final screen to produce the grades 0 to 5 mm, 5 to 12 mm and 12 to 22 mm (whereby the latter two are urgently needed to make asphalt and concrete). As crushing is also possible in the winter months, when rain and storms hinder the normal building work just as much as the sand excavating, the RM60 ensures that the business can constantly work to capacity. The three grain sizes are produced and stored ready for the beginning of the building season, when they are sold at a profit.