SPRAYERS & SPRAYING
Inside story on reusing knapsack sprayers
Moves across the turfcare sector to recycle and reuse plastics are gaining force as product
manufacturers and end users seek to strengthen their green credentials.
S
ynthetic pitch
contractors and
operators for
example, each have to
demonstrate they have
sustainable pathways in place to recycle
as much original material as they can.
Where that’s not possible, they must
ensure anything they cannot repurpose
finds its way to reprocessors, who can
create fresh products from waste.
Pitch projects involve thousands of
tonnes of material but responsibility for
extending the life of plastic products
by finding new applications for them
extends to the other end of the
industry too. Knapsack sprayers are
predominantly made from plastic and
grounds professionals often cannot find
a suitable second use for them when
one product is replaced with another.
Not so Allan Wainwright, National
Account Manager at spray technology
specialists Hozelock UK, which
manufactures several brands, including
Berthoud and Cooper and Pegler.
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“Grounds staff need to maintain
sprayers correctly, otherwise they
risk the equipment underperforming,”
Allan explains. “That’s why building
awareness through on-site training
sessions is so important.”
Allan hit on the idea of creating training
aids out of old sprayers by cutting away
the front of the plastic enclosure to
reveal their inner workings – giving end
users and operators an insight into the
mechanisms in play when they spray.
“Once sites understand how sprayers
operate and what can go wrong if
they don’t maintain them regularly
or correctly, they make it a priority
to clean and check them to ensure
spraying efficiency,” Allan says.
“I display modified units along with
new sprayers on permanent corporate
exhibition and promotional stands,”
Allan adds, “and also take one or two
with me to site as demonstration
models when discussing best practice.”
A small example perhaps of creative
reuse of plastics products but evidence
of formative thinking about a global
issue.
www.cooper-pegler.com/en/
www.berthed.fr/en/
GroundskeepingJournal.co.uk | Sept/Oct 2019