May 9th 2009

Bins save bucks for College

Brent Derschow

Pilbara TAFE's Hedland Campus now has a range of custom-made skip bins, thanks the efforts of two different groups of students.

Metal Fabrication lecturer, Bruce Charlesworth, says the college is the proud owner of several different sized skips, which are used to collect and recycle a range of scrap metal from stainless steel to aluminium.

"The first skip bin was made by a group of First Year Boilermaking apprentices three years ago," explains Bruce. "These six blokes are just about to graduate but I reckon this bin will be around as a legacy of their hard work for many years to come!"

The six apprentices who will graduate next month – Arndee Abdol Raya, Luke Branderhurst, Cody Fitzgerald, David Powell, Ruba Luqman, and Jayce Townsend – all work at local businesses including Hedland Sheet Metal, QAl, Rovil Engineering, Goodline and Cervan Marine.

"These fellas used their ingenuity at a time when there was a shortage of skip bins in Hedland," Bruce says. "They came up with the idea of making their own bin as project work so the college could keep recycling off cuts and sell the scrap back to the steel companies."

Hot on the heels of this initial success, two other bins have just been completed by a group of Indigenous students from SMYL and Bloodwood Tree who are honing their skills for the building industry.

The 11-strong group is completing welding units as part of their course to prepare them for work on steel framed houses.

Bruce says that once these students got a taste of the welding trade, there was no stopping them.

"These blokes put in a terrific effort and have completed two bins in five days!" says Bruce. "They've measured up the metal, guillotined it and welded it together. The results are a credit to their team work and their dedication."

Sahrif bin Sapar and Brent Derschow agree the project work is a great way to learn.

"Building the skips has given us the chance to apply these new skills as we learn them," said Sahrif. "It's a good feeling seeing something come together from scratch."

For more information on programs at Pilbara TAFE, contact 1300 304 244.

Media Contact: Kate Duff, Marketing & Communications
(08) 9159 6712
Kate.duff@pilbaratafe.wa.edu.au