Madvac News

Greenwich chooses Johnston Madvac for Cleansweep

Greenwich Council has taken delivery of 25 Johnston Madvac PS300 pedestrian sweepers, giving them the largest Madvac fleet in Europe.

The sweepers have been purchased to support the council's Cleansweep initiative, introduced in 2003. The service provides residents and businesses with a single contact point covering all aspects of the local environment, from requests for lift repairs and tree maintenance to the reporting of graffiti and street litter.

The Cleansweep programme is backed up by a rigorous borough-wide cleaning and maintenance schedule, for which new vehicles and equipment have been brought in, including the 25 Johnston Madvac PS300s.

The machines purchased by Greenwich all include Johnston Madvac's High Dump system, which enables the bagless litter hopper to be lifted and tilted into refuse sacks without any manual handling of the contents.  Each of the machines is also fitted with hydraulic brush lift, which quickly raises and stows the front brush gear at the flick of a switch to prevent kerb mounting damage.  The Council also opted to include folding stowaway seats on the machines, allowing operators to either ride-on while sweeping, or walk along behind.

Greenwich chose the Johnston Madvac PS300 machines after an exhaustive seven-month trial of various pedestrian sweepers on the market. The Madvac was selected as the preferred option for its High Dump system and no-touch litter handling capability, but primarily for the clean, dustless operation of the sweeper.

The PS 300 is, in fact, fitted with four heavy duty panel filters which provide dust filtration down to as low as eight microns, with optional two micron capability. Independent tests have shown that the Johnston Madvac captures 27 times more breathable dust and nine times more bacteria than other sweepers, making it safer and more comfortable to operate, as well as helping the environment.

Councillor Angela Cornforth, Cabinet Member for Greenwich Council's Public Service, said: "Greenwich Council is always looking at ways to improve services. We have invested money is these new sweepers to make our Cleansweep service even better. We hope that residents will see a difference to the service we currently give them and will report any areas of concern to our 'one call does it all' phone line on 020 8921 4661."

The trial period also provided an on-going training opportunity during which operators and fleet maintenance staff were able to get to know the machines, and become skilled at maintaining them and using them to optimum efficiency.

The PS300s, which now form the largest fleet of Johnston Madvac in Europe, will be used to keep pedestrian areas all around the borough clear of litter, including the famous Cutty Sark tourist area and Greenwich Maritime Museum.

For further information please contact
Lesley Kates, PR Officer, on 01737 553234 or
Ginevra Stoneley, Marketing and Communications Manager, on 01306 874564