WENDT Corp. has announced the sale of an M6090 vehicle shredding plant to Honduras-based recycler Inversiones Materiales S de RL de CV (INVEMA). The plant is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2022 at INVEMA’s facility in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
“WENDT continues our strategic growth initiative as we expand into new markets and regions with the first shredder to be installed in Central America,” says WENDT President Tom Wendt. “We look forward to the opportunities the shredder will provide to INVEMA as well as continuing to grow our relationship with the Gatlin family.”
CEO George Gatlin started INVEMA with his father in 1994. Beginning with three employees recycling aluminum cans, Gatlin has grown the company to 487 employees, including his son Andrew. INVEMA is a recycling center for all nonorganic waste and the largest plastics recycler in the region, supplying Coca-Cola in Honduras and El Salvador with 50% recycled content for all of Coke’s plastic bottles.
“I’ve always wanted to be a step ahead,” George Gatlin says. “I am a very competitive person and I believe competition makes you try to be better.” Gatlin recognized the opportunity for a shredder in Honduras not only for his company, but also for the many people in the country who supply INVEMA with material. “Our suppliers rely on us for their livelihoods,” he explains.
INVEMA’s WENDT M6090 shredding plant will have an infeed conveyor, Bowe Disc Rotor, WENDT AutoDriver controls, downstream system with single magstand, and a 1,500 HP AC motor with a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD). Representing the first WENDT shredder with a VFD, the technology will allow INVEMA to maximize the shredder’s production while minimizing operating cost by taking advantage of the drive’s ability to control the motor’s power consumption and peaks. This is especially important for INVEMA due to the high cost and limited availability of power in Central America.
Gatlin says many factors went into choosing the shredder that would best fit INVEMA’s needs. “The fact that in this part of the world, where we had many different choices, and we chose WENDT speaks for itself,” he says. “WENDT has been super patient, cooperative with giving us information, looking at our needs, adjusting to what we need in power—it has been a great relationship.”
INVEMA plans to process 5,000 tons of vehicles per month with the new shredder. The company plans for further expansion with additional processing equipment soon.
Photo courtesy of WENDT Corp. Caption: A WEDNT Model 6090 auto shredding plant like this one will be installed later this year at INVEMA’s facility in Honduras.
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