Running a successful MRF means adapting to a changing stream, investing to upgrade equipment and navigating end market uncertainty. Three prominent MRF leaders recently shared how they’re approaching these challenges.
Running a successful MRF means adapting to a changing stream, investing to upgrade equipment and navigating end market uncertainty. Three prominent MRF leaders recently shared how they’re approaching these challenges.
A report from Waste Management describes how the pandemic shifted the composition of the curbside stream from paper to plastic last year. The document also provides insights into the company’s domestic market expectations and recycling investments.
A recent report from the nation’s largest waste and recycling hauler outlines MRF infrastructure and reviews the current state of reclamation capacity for key recovered plastics.
Quincy Recycle has opened its eighth recycling facility to handle material from back-of-house commercial and industrial settings, underscoring opportunity in these areas despite a pandemic-driven decline in commercial material generation.
The largest hauler in North America processed a record amount of recyclables in 2019, and it invested more than $100 million to improve its recycling infrastructure, according to its latest sustainability report.
Extended producer responsibility for a wide range of recyclables is gaining steam around the country. Haulers and MRF operators say it’s critical that these proposals are crafted well – both to preserve what already works and allow for much-needed changes.
A recycling facility operator and a robotics company say artificial intelligence is providing materials recovery firms with much-needed data to analyze changes in the recycling stream. That’s in addition to sortation improvements.
Several materials recovery facilities across North America and the U.K. recently announced upgrades or other major projects. The initiatives include optical sorter installations targeting fiber and plastic, advanced artificial intelligence plans and more.
As the coronavirus continues to spread, recycling facilities are increasing distance between employees, sanitizing common areas and, in at least one case, halting the practice of punching in and out on a time clock.
Coronavirus infections among workers have caused a MRF to shutter and delayed collection of recyclables elsewhere. The federal government and one state are working to provide masks and funding to help programs cope.