FROM ROCK TO RECYCLE:
Versatile Impactor/Screening Plant Tackles Two Markets
When Ralph Rogers founded the Rogers Group some ninety years ago, he didn't know that it would become the largest privately held aggregate production company in the U.S. or that it would one day spin off a subsidiary to cash in on the recycling trend. That subsidiary is Louisville, Kentucky-based Rogers Recycling Company, LLC, a flexible, market-focused organization that profitably processes both aggregate and recycle with its highly versatile equipment.

No doubt Ralph Rogers was on the cutting edge way back then, and the Rogers Group and its subsidiary are on the cutting edge now. With more than 50 locations in six states, this massive aggregate producer is keen on refining its current limestone operations while expanding into numerous C&D, concrete, and asphalt recycling applications.

Since May of 1996, Rogers Recycling Company, LLC has been active on two fronts — as a supplemental crushing contractor to the Rogers Group quarries and as one of Louisville 's leading recyclers. “Our challenge is maintaining flexibility,” says Rogers Recycling Company manager Joe Winiger. “We have to serve our market, whether it's asphalt and concrete recycling or staying in tune with the aggregate production required by Rogers Group.”

However, during its first year of operation, the company's dilemma was operating with crushing equipment that couldn't handle both large and small aggregate and recycle projects while offering optimum portability. “The original plant we purchased (a 4860 impactor) was primarily an aggregate producing plant,” says Winiger. “Due to its size, it was cumbersome and prevented us from participating in smaller recycling jobs. It takes such a large job to justify its mobilization. The entire operation [including the loader] requires 14 loads. Seventy-five percent of those loads require permits while 50% require escorts. We were forced to keep that plant where it could be productive and make the most money — and that was in limestone,” explains Winiger. “So we were still not in the recycling business like we wanted to be. We needed a plant that's capable of participating in almost any size job and in any aggregate or recycle application.”

Portability and Ease of Use
In October of 1997, the problem was finally solved with the purchase of a portable UltraMax 1200-25CC (closed-circuit) crushing and screening system manufactured by Galion, Ohio-based Eagle Crusher Company. The portable plant's versatility allows Rogers Recycling Company to move quickly and cost-effectively from the quarry to a C&D job site — or from a concrete recycling yard to a RAP crushing project. “It's been running non-stop,” says Winiger. “From aggregate to recycle, we change nothing about the plant other than crusher settings.”

The actual 1200-25CC plant (with its 5' x 16' double-deck screen) travels on two loads,” says Winiger. “Plus, we take a loader and two additional 30" x 60' conveyors. We can be set up in about four hours. It took us four days to set up our other plant — and that was when everything went right.”

Eagle Crusher Company engineers designed the UltraMax 1200-25CC with a hydraulic lift/leveling system that allows relocation in a fraction of the typical set-up and tear-down time required by comparable plants. The plant is self-contained and has a travel height of 13'6", a weight of 117,000 lbs., and a 48" x 34" crusher feed opening.

On the aggregate side, Rogers Recycling Company uses the UltraMax 1200-25CC to process specialty limestone products and, to a lesser extent, sand & gravel and coal. “As a supplemental crusher for Rogers Group,” says Winiger, “we move the UltraMax plant in when they need to stay ahead of market demand or when the customer requires specialty products [such as 2 1/2" x 1 1/2", 1" x 1/2", or 1 1/2" x 0" road base products]". As the Rogers Group is running hard on its basic core products (coarse aggregate for ready mix and asphalt), their stationary plants may not be able to change modes to accommodate other products. The portability and versatility of the Eagle plant allows us to move in quickly and do the job.”

As for the recycle side, Winiger cautions, “Before you jump into recycling, you have to know your equipment. Obviously, most crushers will crush, but will they do it efficiently?”

Where the UltraMax 1200-25CC is concerned, Winiger touts a considerable comfort zone. “We're not afraid to put anything into that crusher,” he says about its performance in the toughest recycle applications.

Massive, Solid-Steel Rotor!
“The plant takes the blows and the hard knocks,” comments Winiger. He credits that ability to its solid-steel, 3-bar rotor, the most massive in the industry.

“The secondary curtain top sizes what's going to come out of that crusher. We operate at no more than 15% to 20% of the material re-circulating. That way, we maximize the life of the blow bars while still maintaining 200 TPH or more production capacity, depending upon what we're crushing.” Dividing its time between on-site and in-yard recycle crushing, Rogers Recycling Company maintains two collection sites — one at a Rogers Group quarry and the other at a strategically positioned yard in Louisville where excavated concrete and asphalt is accepted by the truckload for a modest tipping fee. Products produced in the yards are typically 2" minus and #57 road base.

“The majority of asphalt we handle is processed in the producers' yards,” says Winiger. “They might have millings that have balled up or melded together. We size that material for surface or base mix.” Winiger adds that, due to the plant's high reduction ratio and efficient screening capability, the 1200-25CC is ideal for RAP.

Branching Out Into Demolition And Recycling
Rogers Recycling also handles a number of demolition jobs. “Right now, we're crushing the remains of an elementary school building that is making way for a large building supply and home improvement chain store. We're set up right where the future parking lot will be. The contractor is able to take the concrete as we crush it and use it for temporary roadway for its rolling stock equipment. The steel is separated and recycled.”

When asked to comment on the future of the recycle industry, Winiger cites a local example. “In Kentucky, a lot of concrete is going into permit by rule,” he explains. “The legislature allows each landfill to cover up to one acre with C&D debris. While this is a competitive situation to us now, it won't be for long. These ‘honey holes,' as we call them, will soon fill up.”

“We think we're in on the front end of the curve, and we're educating as many people as possible as to the benefits of recycling,” says Winiger. He believes that the company's present focus on aggregate will decrease as its recycle business increases.

Field Tests Prove Two is Better than One in Aggregate, Too!
Eagle Crusher has a more cost-effective way to crush aggregate — by coupling a horizontal-shaft impact primary with a smaller HSI secondary.

After completing field tests in New York, the company found that placing a UM04 behind an UltraMax® 1400-45 helps alleviate the re-circulating load and produces a more salable #8, 1/2'' minus asphalt spec product.

“The UM04 is making an extremely cubical product, which the asphalt producer needs,”

Bob Mrozinski, field salesman for Capitol Equipment, an Eagle Crusher dealer.

This new way of applying the primary/secondary crusher circuit is proving to be profitable for some aggregates producers. “One of my customers was able to pay off the cost of his 04 skid in just three months,” said Jay Giltz, applications manager for Eagle Crusher Company.

Eagle Crusher also found that when a smaller secondary HSI crusher is coupled with the primary impactor, the wear life of wear parts increases and the overall cost per ton is reduced.