MILANG ENVIRONMENT CENTRE
corner of Weeroona Drive & Jupiter Street Milang
P O Box 338 Milang SA 5256 Ph:85370201
E: milangenvironmentalcentre@gmail.com
OPEN: 10 AM – 4 PM WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY
ANCIENT MACHINERY AT MEC
MCN items about MEC have focused on the people who operate our local recycle centre and rightly so because they are ALL volunteers. This issue September 2024 however features the aging machinery used by the valiant volunteer team that enables MEC to function. Just like most of the volunteers who are affectionately known as ‘dinosaurs,’ the machinery, plant, and equipment at MEC is old and tired. Nevertheless, despite the many costly and continuous problems associated with old machinery, MEC somehow manages to operate efficiently to provide a valuable recycle depot service to the local community.
MEC uses two trucks. One is a small Daihatsu Delta Tipper purchased second-hand from Strathalbyn Landscape & Supplies. At 24 years this little aging beauty is one of the less ancient machines at MEC but has done a lot of work and is treated with tender loving care because it is so important to the operation. The other truck is a large 1986 FF172 Hino Tipper used almost exclusively by MEC to transport bulk recycled items to several super-collector depots north of Adelaide. The truck must be kept compliant with Dept of Transport requirements and in the last few years has cost MEC dearly in repairs and maintenance. This ancient yellow fossil recently went to Murray Bridge to undergo an expensive emergency triple by-pass. That procedure follows a hip replacement procedure in 2023 that cost even more.
Lifting heavy storage bales and crates full of crushed cans or bottles is made an easier task for the MEC ‘dinosaur’ volunteer team thanks to the two ancient MEC forklifts. These two essential machines enjoy regular servicing to reduce the risk of breakdown and need for repairs. Forklift 15 a 1994 Mitsubishi is an older brother to a 1997 Mitsubishi Forklift. It would be impossible for MEC to operate without these forklifts.
Perhaps the most essential equipment item at MEC is the second-hand 1991 IDEAL-WERK 6006 crushing machine affectionately known as ‘The Depressor’. This popular, much-respected antique saves space by crushing cans and plastic bottles prior to storage. None of the volunteers ever refer to ‘The Depressor’ as being old in fear that it might turn on them or worse still -break down and stop working.
MEC NEEDS MORE VOLUNTEERS: Anyone interested in being a MEC volunteer, actively learning about recycling, contributing to environmental protection, operating machinery, driving tractors, trucks, or forklifts, enjoying delicious cakes, long tea breaks, meeting residents from across the region, please contact MEC by phone or email or call in personally 10 am – 4 pm Wednesday or Saturday.
