Innovation award for Mayo makers of waste reduction equipment
By Tom Gillespie
PEL is the leading manufacturer in Ireland for waste reduction equipment.
Based in Ballindine, the company serves a global customer base from its Ireland and UK offices. It also obtains an extensive network of international distributors and customers.
Tommy Griffith, CEO of PEL, founded the company in 2005 and has brought a robust portfolio of innovative waste management solutions to the market. Through many stages of research, design and development, the company is consistently aligning itself with the latest and future trends in technology and engineering.
From its previous success in winning The Irish Times Innovation Award in 2019, PEL has advanced significantly.
Due to growing demand for its products, the company has expanded and relocated from its previous location in Brownhall, Balla, to a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Ballindine.
This new premises enables the manufacturing and engineering teams to increase production and work more efficiently across the lines to produce a vast selection of machines, including the PEL BriteBin range of bins, bottle crushers, balers and bin compactors.
It has been announced this past week that PEL is the winner of the Public Sector Award for Innovation 2021. This award is in recognition of the PEL BriteBin software technology, a cloud-based software solution.
It empowers local authorities and private sector customers to cost-efficiently manage their waste collection services while improving the environment and well-being of people living within their catchment area.
The BriteBin technology data management dashboard provides visibility of fill-levels across the bin fleet, and this facilitates the deployment of resources only to those bins requiring service.
The current practice is to schedule bin collections irrespective of the volume of waste they contain, which more often than not is a wasteful use of this costly resource.
Individual bins equipped with a bin-fill level sensor feed data via the SigFox or the GSM network to the BriteBin console. On reaching its maximum fill level, the BriteBin software will send an alert notification to the authorised authority allowing resources to be deployed to only those bins requiring service. This increases the efficiency of the collections service and reduces carbon emissions.
PEL is in a unique position within the industry - it is the innovator, manufacturer and distributor of all of its products. This provides local authorities and private customers with the distinct advantage of a direct input to help develop and customise existing products to their precise requirements in their county and local area.
Tommy Griffith said: "Our customers have direct contact with us as the manufacturers and receive unlimited customer service and support. PEL offers a wealth of experience in supplying waste reduction solutions and it prides itself on delivering cost effective solutions tailored to exceed customer requirements.
"PEL aims for continuous improvement and development, putting customer interaction at the forefront of their customer service. Building strong rapport plays a pivotal role in the end to end delivery of the PEL products and services.
"The PEL BriteBin Solar has been installed in various locations across Mayo in recent weeks.
"The initiative was taken by Mayo County Council to address the issue of increased street litter across the county. Westport town was faced with a high volume of litter in busy public areas such as along the quays. Birds have been seen removing litter from the bins. The installation of a fleet of BriteBin Solar has created a solution to this problem.
"The BriteBin range of bins have a significantly higher waste capacity than that of a standard street bin, holding up to ten times the volume of litter. The units installed are sealed which now prevents bird and vermin getting into the bins or removing any litter. Westport has seen a considerable reduction in its street waste which has had a positive impact on the outlook of the town and its environment.
"Likewise, there were a number of litter hotspots across Castlebar, for example Lough Lannagh and the Mall. The installation of the BriteBin Solar in both of these towns have helped lower carbon emissions, increase biodiversity and protect the environment.
"In addition to this PEL have partnered up with Tidy Towns Ireland this year. PEL are sponsoring the prize of four PEL BriteBins to the winning town of our ‘Agent Brite Litter Awareness Award’.
"This is a great opportunity for towns nationwide to reduce litter in their communities which will enhance the local environment and encourage biodiversity."
For further information on PEL visit their website https://www.pelmfg.com/ or contact their head office on (094) 9366923.
* Pictured above are Tommy Griffith, CEO, PEL, and Michael Toughey, R&D manager.