40 March 2016
S U P P L I E R
A heavy-duty expert
At its factory in the north of Italy, recycling equipment producer Vezzani is finalising the production of
a shear that will pack 2100 tonnes of cutting force. ‘This will be the biggest of its kind ever made world-
wide,’ claims the company’s sales & business development director Gabriele Merlo.
The world map on the wall at Vezzani’s head-quarters and in the company’s corporate bro-
chure has more yellow on it with every passing
year. The colour denotes those countries with at
least one customer supplied by the Italy-based
shear baler manufacturer – and the total currently
stands at 53. These include a few perhaps not-so-
obvious places to do business, including Iraq and
the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
‘Wherever there is business opportunity in our
field of expertise, we do our utmost to join in
and offer the best possible solution’, declares
the company’s sales & business development
director Gabriele Merlo. ‘Clearly, given that we
have continuously developed and improved
our machinery and technology, this has helped
in building a worldwide reputation of being
among the most qualified in the field of recy-
cling equipment manufacturing.’
Inclined shear boost
It all started small, in 1962. At Ovada, a small
town in Italy’s Piedmont region between Milan
and Genoa, Luciano Vezzani founded a family
business focusing on the production of ‘classic’
shear balers, predominantly to supply both local
steel mills and recyclers.
The company experienced serious growth from
the late 1970s onwards, boosted by Vezzani’s
‘invention’ of the inclined shear. This is a gravity
feeding solution that was launched as a smart
and cost-efficient alternative to the horizontal
feeder. According to Merlo, recyclers imme-
diately recognised the advantages of this new
approach. ‘It increased production capacity and
speed, while also offering big savings in both
maintenance and energy costs because it has
less moving parts,’ he explains.
Truly global player
Indeed, the inclined shear gave the company
its USP and opened doors to export markets.
By 1983, Vezzani had entered the former Soviet
By Martijn Reintjes
Vezzani’s managing
directors Gabriele
Merlo (left) and Mario
Pastorino
Shear baler major Vezzani
