Portland, Maine-based Ecomaine runs a 50,000-square-foot MRF, as well as a waste-to-energy site and landfill. | Photo courtesy of Ecomaine/Credit: Brian Fitzgerald
Many recycling facilities track throughput, materials composition, contamination and other data points. One operator in the Northeast is now bringing meticulous measurement to social distancing.
Like the other haulers, GFL reported first-quarter commodity prices were substantially down year over year. | H_Ko/Shutterstock
GFL Environmental reported the first-quarter average recyclables price was down 32% year over year. But since then, the price has increased, with OCC hitting $200 a ton in some areas.
A new guide helps public agencies and private MRF operators craft contract language both sides find fair. | fizkes/Shutterstock
A MRF and municipality may feel their contract is fair, until a dive in commodity prices or spike in contamination leaves someone unhappy. A new report from The Recycling Partnership strives to help the parties prepare for difficult circumstances.
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The city of Winnipeg’s inbound contamination rate averaged 14.5% over the first two months of 2020, according to GFL Environmental.
As of last October, the Canadian city of Winnipeg has been sending its household recyclables to a technology-heavy MRF that uses seven optical sorters and a robot.
Industry group SWANA is working with the federal government to supply free face coverings for the waste and recycling industry. | beton studio/Shutterstock
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.
The Glass Recycling Coalition’s MRF glass certification program recognizes sorting facilities that invest to improve glass quality. | sirtravelalot/Shutterstock
MRFs that are early participants in a glass certification program recently described the benefits of the new initiative.
A leader with Waste Connections said that his company has seen increased collection volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic. | Resource Recycling file photo.
Two large publicly held waste and recycling companies are taking in higher residential volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they say contamination has been flat. Recently, they’ve also started seeing critical upticks on the commercial side.
The Coastal Resources of Maine (CRM) facility in Hampden, Maine launched last year to handle mixed waste from numerous municipalities. | Screen shot from company video
Higher-than-expected costs, recycling market turbulence and other factors led to the recent shutdown of a Maine mixed-waste processing plant. Stakeholders are hoping a new operator can restart the plant, which had run for just one year.
In 2019, Republic Services opened a tech-heavy MRF in Plano, Texas that uses a positive-sorting approach to produce clean bales.
Republic Services spent $34 million on equipment upgrades at its recycling facilities last year, and it closed 12 MRFs in a consolidation effort.
A handful of industry groups and plastics producers are teaming up on a 60-day effort to try to capture a wider variety of materials from the flow of curbside recyclables in Portland, Ore.