Scene from ISRI2019 in Los Angeles.
Stakeholders from a variety of recycling industry sectors convened for the annual ISRI2019 convention last week. Here are some takeaways from the residential recycling portion of the event.
Scene from ISRI2019 in Los Angeles.
Stakeholders from a variety of recycling industry sectors convened for the annual ISRI2019 convention last week. Here are some takeaways from the residential recycling portion of the event.
A 2017 photo of equipment inside the Recology Pier 96 MRF in San Francisco.
Recycling facility operators across North America continue to scramble to install systems aimed at hitting the higher quality standards buyers are demanding.
Materials recovery facilities opened recently in two U.S. regions. | Juice Flair/Shutterstock
Recycling facilities in Iowa and New Jersey recently started up operations, processing single-stream recyclables from nearby communities.
Now operational, the Recycle Ann Arbor MRF accepts typical single-stream recyclables, including mixed paper, OCC, cartons, metal cans, glass, PET, HDPE and PP. | Courtesy of Recycle Ann Arbor
Recycle Ann Arbor reopened the city of Ann Arbor’s MRF this month, marking the first time in years that recyclables will be sorted locally in the Michigan municipality.
Waste Management announced plans for another $200 million in recycling investments for 2022. | BCFC/Shutterstock
Driven by labor market difficulties, Waste Management is accelerating its plans to upgrade MRFs so they can operate more profitably and with a smaller headcount, the company’s CEO said.
California regulators will provide incentive payments to curbside recycling programs producing PET bales with less than 2% contamination. | RecycleMan/Shutterstock
California officials will provide payments of up to $180 per ton to recycling facilities that limit contamination in PET bales to 2% or less.
AMP Robotics is training its AI-powered visioning system to identify hazards such as fuel tanks and batteries so MRFs can safely remove them. | Courtesy of AMP Robotics
AMP Robotics is training its AI-powered camera system to identify fuel tanks and batteries on conveyor belts, so the system can alert MRF staff to the hazards.
Research compared a variety of deposit systems and recycling rates increased in all scenarios, with the highest rates for an all-beverage deposit of 10 cents. | Rokas Tenys/Shutterstock
This story has been corrected.
Though container deposit systems typically help lift recovery rates for covered materials, the programs also usually reduce tonnages of high-quality PET and aluminum going to sorting facilities. A new study helps to quantify those potential impacts.
The author responds to a recent study on the financial impacts of deposit programs on MRFs and points to research showing bottle bills reduce overall costs for municipalities. | TakePhoto/Shutterstock
Set to open in 2024, Rumpke’s 200,000-square-foot MRF will be built on 25 acres the company purchased almost a decade ago. | Courtesy of Rumpke
Rumpke Waste and Recycling’s new $50 million MRF is designed to adapt, with plans for the Columbus, Ohio facility drawn up to take future changes to the recycling stream into account.