It is always an awesome opportunity to catch up with business owners and operators who have a genuine vision to provide a positive impact on the environment combined with the know-how and commitment to back this up and see it through. One such company and business partner that lives this ideal is George Hatzimanolis from Repurpose It. George has more than 15 years of industry experience and has a passion for reducing our construction industry’s reliance on extractive resource.
Repurpose It is a resource recovery business that holds a firm belief that all waste can be converted into a valuable resource. Their objective is to reduce the construction industry’s reliance on extractive resource. They are achieving this by investing in the world’s best practice technologies that convert typically untreatable waste streams being sent to landfill to valuable resources for our construction industry, such as sand and aggregates. Repurpose It offers services predominantly focused towards the construction industry, including waste disposal, logistics and supply of construction materials and landscaping products including, sand aggregates, mulch and soils.
Investing In It’s Own Success
The company itself is only in its infancy being established in early 2017, but stepping onto their massive site in Epping, Victoria you very quickly realise there is nothing infant about the massive investment and commitment to success that has been made by the business partners.
We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to walk through the site with Director and CEO George Hatzimanolis to find out what his vision and goals are looking forward on this more than impressive operation.
I couldn’t help but cut straight to the chase and find out what set Repurpose It aside from its competitors and George shared, “We have invested in the world’s best practice technologies that have never been seen before in Australia. Our equipment has been critical in this area with advanced washing and scrubbing technology to recover sand and aggregates from excavation waste, which is not achievable with conventional equipment or quarrying methods. Our workforce is growing as a result of the new product streams we are developing despite our plant being very sophisticated in its automation. Technological advancement in traditional quarrying methods creates new employment opportunities in some cases for a different skill such as engineering/IT and a result of the new product streams we are now able to produce, for example our manufactured sands.”
Perfect Partners
Repurpose It chose Volvo and the team at CJD Equipment as the supplier of their heavy machinery. George made it clear that this decision was made based on a commitment to providing their operators with the comfort and safe working environment that Volvo delivers when working 8 hours+ per day in the machine.
George went on to say, “We have chosen Volvo as our equipment partner because we feel there is an alignment in Volvo’s energy efficiency engineering values and ours towards reducing our carbon footprint and working towards a more sustainable future. We were also attracted to the quality that comes with a Volvo machine. CJD has been the preferred equipment partner of Repurpose It since the business was established and currently offer servicing and after-sales support for the entire Volvo fleet.”
So far Repurpose It has purchased five new machines and have another two hired machines on site.
Five Shiny New Volvos
When working in the resource recovery business there is a direct need for equipment with muscle and versatility with many quality attachments. Repurpose It dove straight into three new heavy-duty excavators with the EC250DL (25-tonne excavator) and two EC220DL (22-tonne excavators), along with a collection of buckets, hydraulic breakers and grabs. These machines are the backbone of the site that carry out a multitude of operations, including general earthworks on the developing site, loading trucks, feeding screens and sorting and stockpiling building rubble. The Volvo excavators were chosen due to the incredible fuel efficiency, stability, build quality and operator comfort. There was serious consideration by George to give his operators the best possible work environment and Volvo hit the mark on all points. These Volvo machines are the workhorses of the site.
On the loading front, George decided on two wheel loaders: the Volvo L110F Wheel Loader (18-tonne loader) and the Volvo L220H Wheel Loader (32-tonne loader).
The L110F Wheel Loader was supplied with the 4 in 1 Hi-Dump and the Light Material Bucket and Fork Attachment. The High Dump bucket makes loading the trucks with deep bin bodies very quick and easy, while the 4 in 1 bucket allows the unit to blade and clean up haul roads, grab material and load material into hoppers.
There is no denying the 32-tonne L220H is the heavy hitter of the site. Supplied with a heavy-duty general purpose bucket, this beast takes on tasks such as the load and carry duties of heavy material, stockpiling and will be feeding the hopper on the new recycling plant. This machine was purchased due to its massive torque/power, low fuel consumption and huge rimpull, which allows it to push heavy material into stockpiles. It is also comfortable for the operator featuring the Volvo Comfort Drive Control (CDC) System.
If you are not familiar with Repurpose It, I’m sure this article will be the first of many good things you hear moving forward because a business under the guidance and direction of George Hatzimanolis is bound to go from strength to strength. With the quality of the foundation of the business that has been laid over the last 12 months, the future is looking bright.