Lebanese Volvo Construction Equipment (CE) dealer, Amtrac, has delivered an L110F wheel loader as part of an upgrade to the waste disposal systems in Lebanon’s Zahlé municipality, following a competitive tender that concluded in January 2016.
Amid a waste crisis following the planned closure of Lebanon’s main waste treatment facility and largest landfill site in Na’ameh last year, many of Lebanon’s cities and municipalities have been left incapable of dealing with their daily output of waste.
One of the worst cases was Zahlé – Lebanon’s third most populous city – due to an increase in the volume of waste entering its solid waste facility of from neighbouring towns and displaced people.
Volvo CE dealer Amtrac secured the tender by pitching the L110F as a versatile and multi-purpose machine for feeding the various sorting lines and loading trucks at Zahlé’s facility with material to either process or dump in the on-site landfill.
Anthony Abdelmassih, from Amtrac’s management team, who submitted the winning bid, explains: “A fast delivery period and, of course, Volvo CE’s reputation and product performance were the main reasons that we were able to win this tender.”
Together with the L110F’s robust electrics and effective air filtration and engine-cooling systems, the promise of high uptime and long service intervals were also critical to the selection of the machines for a role that will see it work 10-hour shifts and move over 250 tonnes of waste each day.
Abdelmassih adds: “We were awarded the tender, which I think says a lot about our products and service. The benefits of this project were two-fold: it was a great opportunity to give something back to the region and to help it recover, and to help us stay ahead in the waste treatment segment.”
The L110F’s fast work cycles, smooth bucket movement work and Volvo TP-Linkage, which combines high breakout torque with parallel lift throughout the entire lifting range, will make all the difference to the task at hand.
“Currently, the landfill is serving 24 municipalities, plus 23 companies and industries in the area, noted Rami Nassif, mechanical engineer and head of the technical division of Mores, a consulting firm overseeing the operations.
“The site is put under immense strain every day, so anything that can be done to help take some of the weight off is welcomed. Creating a sustainable system to manage the trash within our country is crucial to avoid ramifications on the environment, Lebanon’s people and tourism and investment, which in turn affects the county’s economy. The sooner we can put an end to this crisis, the better.”
The loader tender, was part of the solution orchestrated by international NGO, Mercy Corps, which invited sealed bids from interested parties in November 2015 to tackle Lebanon’s waste problem.
The NGO has been providing humanitarian and development assistance in Lebanon since 1993, and carried out this project under the UK-funded Improved Networks Training and Jobs programme.
Mercy Corps has been working with the Zahlé municipality to upgrade its solid waste sorting facility as part of an initiative to create jobs in the solid waste management and recycling industry.
Zahlé is situated 55km east of the capital Beirut and is home to approximately 150,000 inhabitants.
