Develon Targets Waste Handling with Two Purpose-Built Machines

At Ecomondo 2026 in Rimini, Develon introduced the DX270WMH-7 material handler and a waste-specification DL280-7 wheel loader to the Italian market

Waste and recycling yards are hard on machines in ways a quarry is not. Loads are light but awkward, piles are high, visibility is everything, and debris finds every exposed hose. Develon used this year’s Ecomondo, held in Rimini from 3 to 6 November, to show two machines built around those conditions: the new DX270WMH-7 wheeled material handler and a version of the DL280-7 wheel loader configured specifically for waste handling. Both were presented to the Italian market on stand 504 in Hall C3.

More footprint, more reach, a higher seat

The DX270WMH-7 is not a lightly modified excavator. It gets a new undercarriage, a redesigned boom and arm, a new elevating cab and a new counterweight. With the stabilisers down, its footprint is 35 cm longer and 50 cm wider than the previous model’s, which translates directly into stability when the machine is reaching out with a full grab.

The boom and arm follow a new concept for weld layout, mass distribution and stress management, aimed at heavy vertical loads. The result is a longer front end with a pin height of up to 13,830 mm and higher lifting capacity.

The elevating cab rises by 2,603 mm on a new hydraulic system that Develon says is faster than before, giving the operator a 360-degree view of the pile and the attachment. Inside, there is an 8-inch display and redesigned controls. Structural reinforcements reduce lateral sway and shield exposed lines, and two emergency lowering valves, one inside the cab and one outside, allow the operator to be brought down quickly if needed.

Safety around the machine is handled by Develon’s Virtual Wall system, which lets the operator set working limits so that the boom cannot touch ceilings, walls or other obstacles, a real issue in covered sorting halls. Daily maintenance has been simplified too: the condenser tilts, a magnetic dust screen and a reversible fan come as standard, and greasing points for the cab and stabilisers have been regrouped.

Three arm lengths and an Italian bucket

The second machine starts from the existing DL280-7 wheel loader and adds what a waste site demands. It comes with three arm configurations, with hinge pin heights of 3,994 mm for the standard arm, 4,364 mm for the long arm and 4,994 mm for the extra-long arm. The extra-long frame is designed to be strong but light, keeping weight off the front of the machine.

The high-dump bucket shown in Rimini comes from Leonardi Benne, the Italian attachment maker that has been in the business since the 1960s and has worked with Develon for years. It is 2,545 mm wide, holds 4 m³ and reaches a discharge height of between 4,697 mm and 5,793 mm depending on the arm. Critical wear areas use 450 HB steel, with high-strength steel across the rest of the structure.

The waste kit completes the package: an exoskeleton protecting the lift cylinders, guards for the windscreen, lights and wheels, shielding for the lower articulation and guards over the air intakes.

Built for the sorting hall, not the quarry

For contractors and municipal operators, the point of both machines is uptime in an environment that punishes standard specifications. A stable handler that sees the whole pile and a loader that can top up tall hoppers or trailers without a ramp both cut cycle times in sorting and transfer stations, while the protection packages address the damage that usually takes waste machines out of service.

Choosing Ecomondo, Italy’s main fair for the circular economy, and partnering with a domestic bucket maker signals that Develon sees Italian recycling and waste operators as a market worth addressing with dedicated machines rather than general-purpose equipment.

Develon Targets Waste Handling with Two Purpose-Built Machines published on The HeavyQuip Magazine.