When people think of cutting-edge technology and how it is changing the way municipalities serve their residents, they probably don’t think much about the materials recovery facilities (MRFs) responsible for sorting and processing waste.
They might think about how municipal water districts are using technology to better measure the amount of water that their individual residents and businesses are consuming. They might think about the new road-building techniques that local highway departments are employing to build better roads.
But MRFs are becoming surprisingly high-tech today, too. Just ask Doug Sites, global general manager for waste handling and recycling at the Gallatin, TN, office of McLanahan. He points to a recycling and waste system that his company developed in 1995 for the city of Chicago. The MRF included five lines of infeed, a primary trommel screen, a conveyor, and not much more. There was very little automation to the system.
Today? MRFs are increasingly relying on high-tech scanners, sorters, and automation systems to make the job of separating waste and recyclable materials an easier one. Many municipalities boast enough technology to operate single-stream MRFs, in which both garbage and recyclables enter the facility in one wastestream. The sorting and scanning tech used by the MRF is powerful enough to then separate and reclaim the recyclable material from this single-source wastestream.
New tech has even made it safer for the employees working at these facilities, Sites says. “Today, thanks to technology, we have increased the safety of the personnel that work in municipalities’ waste services. We are keeping people off the grounds, exposing them to less of the hazardous waste and products that we often see in the wastestream. And the technology is making MRFs more efficient. There is everything as advanced as infrared sorters to fully automated pieces of equipment. Across the board, technology is making an impact.”
Sites isn’t alone in his opinion. MSW Management spoke with manufacturers who provide MRFs with their equipment. They were all hopeful that the technology that is already revolutionizing these facilities will only continue to improve in the near future.
There are challenges, though. Most notably, the low prices that commodities fetch today are making it challenging for many owners to run MRFs at a profit. This makes it more of a stretch for operators to invest their already slim profits into new technology, even if this tech will make their MRFs more efficient long-term.
Constantly Evolving
Greg Gesell, project manager for waste services at Omaha, NE-based HDR, says the technology designed for materials recovery facilities is constantly evolving. This is a positive. Manufacturers are always developing new techniques to make the separating and processing of recyclable materials a more efficient task. Many of these tech upgrades are being seen most obviously at the processing line. The advancements are coming at such a quick pace, in fact, that it can be hard for MRFs to keep up with the latest and greatest tech.
“It is difficult to keep pace due to the advances and ongoing development with line arrangement, new sorters and screening devices, balers, and rolling stock,” says Gesell.
Often, these technology improvements are measured by the number of human sorters they can displace per ton of processed material. It’s important that new technology is strong enough so that when it does displace sorters, the quality of the recovered materials stream doesn’t suffer.
While it is usually sorters and screens that grab the tech headlines, it’s important to not forget improvements such as automatic baling and more effective rolling-stock equipment. These types of tech boosts can increase the efficiency of an MRF while having a similar impact on worker safety. But this is just the start of how new tech is increasing the efficiency of facilities. Gesell points to GIS-based routing techniques that can shorten the routes trucks take to collect materials and deliver them to MRFs. The savings in fuel costs and wear on collection trucks can save municipalities a sizable amount of money each year.
“Technology improvements certainly don’t stop at the tipping floor and loading dock, or even the scale house,” explains Gesell. “All these technology improvements can be applied to the dynamic world of recyclable products and materials processing, resulting in continued advances for these types of facilities.”
The biggest tech advancements today, though, are coming from the scanner portion of the MRF world. The density, variety, and speed of scanners continue to improve. Modern scanners can recognize and sort objects in less time and with far greater accuracy than human sorters can, of course. But these modern scanners can also perform these tasks more efficiently than even the next most-recent models could.
Gesell says scanners are using a wider variety of material properties—such as moisture content, composition, color—to more clearly distinguish and accurately separate materials. This all works to improve the resulting product stream. It doesn’t mean that tech improvements haven’t hit the screening and separation areas of MRFs, too. Screening devices today can properly display the full material stream that flows through MRFs, something that improves the efficiency of these facilities.
A Rise in Automation
Sites says automation is already providing a boost to the efficiency levels of today’s materials recovery facilities. He points to McLanahan’s two lines of optical sorters, the ECOPACK and ECOGLASS. The first is designed for recovering plastic and papers. The second is designed to recover glass. Both types can sort products based on a variety of factors, such as their composition and color. The sorters are completely automated, eliminating the need for any manual sorting of materials.
“Those machines are making a difference,” says Sites. “We have them installed at facilities all over the world.”
A good example of the impact that new tech can have on a MRF came in 2013, when the CP Group—and its Advanced MRF division—equipped the Lorain County Resource Recovery Complex in the Northeast Ohio community of Oberlin with a high-tech Supervisory Control and Data (SCADA) control package. The $15 million worth of tech upgrades allowed the MRF to triple its recycling capacity in the first 100 days of operation.
Republic Services can now process as much as 150,000 tons of recycled materials at the MRF each year.
CP Group’s SCADA control packages rely on Programmable Logic Controllers that allow MRFs operators to evaluate and track the facility’s recycling output. The package includes a belt scale that measures in real-time the processing rate of pre-sorted materials. The system also provides operators with a pan-tilt-zoom camera and three stationary cameras that allow for a 360-degree high-definition view of the entire sorting system. “This data makes it possible to achieve the important information necessary to make informed decisions and run a very successful operation,” says Patrick Nicol, CP Group sales engineer.
Automation not only makes facilities more efficient, it makes them safer, too. As recently as the mid-1990s, workers had to hand feed materials through a facility. That resulted in less-than-ideal conditions for workers. “You had all the workers exposed to whatever was in that stream,” says Sites. “I have a saying: ‘If it fits in the bin, it goes in.’ The facilities have no control over what the public puts in those bins. It exposes workers to all sorts of hazards, needles, rotten foods, animal feces—so many things in that stream that could be hazardous to individuals. By really adding the mechanical and automated tech to reduce the amount of laborers you have handling the stream, that protects the actual workers.”
This doesn’t mean that MRFs won’t employ any human pickers at all in the future. At facilities that rely more on automation, most of the pickers work in the quality control area. They pull out big plastics—say, a plastic wheelbarrow that has ended up in the steam—before they advance deep into a facility’s processing area.
This is a far safer use of human workers. “The end user, by automating, greatly reduces the risk of contaminating the workers,” says Sites.
Savings Born out of Tech
Technology is not only making MRFs more efficient, it is also reducing their operating costs, a boon to those municipalities that are constantly trying to lower their annual expenses. Scanning and sorting technology can reduce the number of human sorters that work at facilities. By reducing the cost of labor, municipalities can take a big bite out of the annual operating costs of their MRFs.
High-tech scanners also eliminate many of the mistakes that human sorters might make. That, too, can save municipalities money each year in the form of a more consistent materials stream. “Scanners do not take work breaks, and their reliability is consistent,” explains Gesell.
But high-tech scanners are not a cure-all for MRFs. These machines can break down. And when they do, the results can be costly. That’s why it’s important for MRFs to have the right technicians available who can quickly repair malfunctioning scanners.
“Maintaining a consistent workforce is a common issue for MRF operation. Should a sorter fall ill, or be unavailable, the team can be quickly rearranged or a replacement be trained fairly quickly,” says Gesell. “If a scanner fails, the line is down. Therefore, reliability and the ability for plant technicians to quickly and easily troubleshoot the equipment is paramount.”
Mark Neitzey, director of sales at the Stamford, CT, office of VAN DYK Recycling Solutions, says new technology today is targeting specific problems. And, this is improving the efficiency of MRFs across the country. Consider the problems that plastic bags cause for MRFs. These bags weigh almost nothing. But by volume and quantity, they make up a sizeable percentage of the input stream for MRFs. That’s a problem because these nuisance items flit about a MRF and can easily manage to wrap themselves around screens.
“We now supply screens that make good separation but have little or no film wrapping,” says Neitzey. “These screens can be added to existing MRFs or swapped out for original screens. Obviously, any new system we supply is already getting this style of screen. Less time spent cleaning screens allows for more productive processing time.”
He points to optical sorters as the most cutting-edge technology benefiting MRFs today. VAN DYK Recycling Solutions represents TOMRA, a manufacturer that specializes in optical sorting equipment. The company has installed more than 3,000 optical sorters across the country. The sorters that it installs allow MRFs to sort a far wider variety of materials optically.
MRFs armed with these optical sorters can sort more material more accurately and in less time. But even though optical sorters are cutting-edge, they alone can’t make an MRF efficient. “TOMRA would tell you—and so would any other optical sorter companies—that any optical sorter can only be successful if the material is properly prepared and fed to it,” says Neitzey.
For instance, optical sorters work best when material is arranged in a single layer and spread out on an acceleration conveyor. “So, as cutting edge as optical is, it still is a part of an overall separation system that needs to properly prepare the material to feed the optical sorters,” explains Neitzey. “This means that devices such as screens that don’t wrap with film, ballistic separators, and automatic feeders—and how all the components tie together as a system—are still very important to any facility’s success.”
Technology has helped make MRFs more efficient. But it hasn’t solved all of the inefficiency problems that these facilities face. Municipal officials, for instance, need to explore ways in which to reduce the number of contaminants in their recycling streams. Feedstock in most markets is coming into facilities with higher levels of contamination in the form of trash or non-recyclable content. This is happening even though most municipalities are improving the quality of recycling education.
Technology has already helped improve commodity quality. But many MRFs are still relying on the leniency of mills—some are more willing than others to accept products with contaminant levels that are higher than those recommended by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries or even the mill’s own standards—to dispose of their recyclable material.
MRFs that rely on this generosity are putting themselves at financial risk. “As we have seen with the push-back on quality in many markets, particularly during times of low material prices, MRFs with lower standards can quickly get into financial trouble,” says Gesell. “This, coupled with the continued lightweighting, material changes, and a growing trend toward mixed waste processing while improving recycling commodity quality is where I see the greatest potential for improvements.”
The Financial Challenges
With all the advancements that new technology brings, why aren’t even more MRF operators investing in new scanners and separators? What are the hurdles keeping even more municipalities from embracing the latest MRF technology? Not surprisingly, it often comes down to funding. Some municipalities simply don’t have enough program funding to justify the upfront costs of new scanners and separators, even if this equipment would save them money over the long-term. It doesn’t help that MRFs are receiving lower prices for their commodities.
Ernie Ruckert, project manager in the solid waste division of Middletown, NY-based Cornerstone, says that while MRF operators are interested in new technology, many of them can’t afford to invest much in high-tech sorters or scanners. Much of the work that Cornerstone is performing with MRFs today involves maintenance and the more-affordable strategy of retrofitting aging equipment. But even replacing old equipment that no longer operates efficiently can be a financial challenge to operators. Because the value of the potential commodities that come into MRFs is so low today, it’s difficult for many of these facilities to invest too much in new technology. Because of this, some operators are opting to spend their limited funds on retrofitting older equipment.
And still others can’t even afford to take that step. “We do a lot of retrofit work to replace aging equipment,” admits Ruckert. “The big problem we have in the industry is that the market prices are so low in certain areas of the country. The aggregate value of potential commodities that come into MRFs is so low, making it extremely difficult to operate a MRF at a profit. Without the money, it can be difficult even to retrofit a facility.”
This is especially true for those operators that are tied into multi-year contracts with municipalities. They have a fixed processing fee that they are now tied to. The fee doesn’t change, even if these operators are no longer making as much money as they did in the past because of the falling market for commodities. “The economics can make it tough to renovate facilities or put in new technologies,” he says.
Some MRFs are struggling so much, that their operators are closing them. “The economics just don’t work out,” he adds. “MRFs are so driven by short-term economic returns on investment. You can’t make a long-term commitment to improvements to the technology. You might not have an economically viable facility in the long-term. That is the problem. If there was more money, if the markets were more robust and offered better returns, there would be more money available to look at retrofitting and new technologies.”
Then there’s the pace of tech improvements. It’s impressive that sorting and scanning technology is improving so rapidly. But it makes difficult for MRF officials to know when it’s the right time to invest in new equipment.
“With the current market pricing and material-quality requirements, municipalities are struggling to make investments in technology,” states Gesell. “With containers, fiber, and other feedstock materials constantly changing, technology continues to advance, making the timing of the decision to invest in expensive scanners and sorting technology upgrades very difficult.”
He predicts that MRF owners will invest more money in technology only after commodity pricing rises. Others will invest in new sorting and scanning equipment as the price of labor continues to rise. Labor costs, though, have to be high enough for these owners to justify the higher costs of new technology.
“Facility upgrades and the addition of new lines are occurring, and usually these will have the best equipment to solve the facility’s bottlenecks or allow for increased throughput,” says Gesell. “In some cases, however, the municipality does not see the need for new technology.”
Cost isn’t the only barrier to MRF technology. There are some municipalities that, while they could afford to invest in new scanners and sorters, prefer to stick with their current setups.
Some municipalities, for instance, might be happy with the way their MRFs are currently operating, even if they aren’t powered by the latest in new technology. Their MRFs might perform perfectly well for the 20,000 or 50,000 tons a year that they process. Others might not want to increase MRF technology that could push some of the employees who work at these facilities out of a job. Maintaining local jobs is a key today for many municipalities.
Other municipalities might be taking a look at a local economy that remains somewhat shaky and might decide to hold off on any expansion plans they previously had for their MRFs. “Growth has been slow since the last recession,” explains Gesell. “While they might have had plans for some upgrades, they may have been able to push them back.”
The MRF of the Future
As more municipalities do embrace improved technology, what will the MRF of the future look like? The recycling professionals had some ideas. Gesell says that MRFs have come a long way from the days of simple conveyor belts with human sorters positioned on both sides. While some municipalities still operate such MRFs, the industry is quickly moving toward greater automation.
“The future MRF will need to accommodate a wider variety of materials,” he predicts. “We will see more scanners, sorting more types of materials and producing more specific products. There will be fewer manual sorters—in some cases, none. Robotics is in the development phase, and it will be interesting to see how this technology is further applied in our industry.”
Gesell says balers will see tech changes that will help boost efficiency levels at MRFs. There will also be changes to the types of materials that can be accepted at MRFs. This might make the biggest impact at these facilities.
“Packaging material changes and the wide variety of C&D, organic, and mixed-waste technology that may be added to the MRF in one way or another will result in the continued evolution of what we call a MRF,” he states.
Neitzey believes the biggest efficiency gains for MRFs will come in the form of reduced labor costs. That new technology—especially advanced separation equipment and optical sorters—can significantly reduce the number of workers that MRFs need to hire to keep their operations running smoothly. This can save municipalities plenty of dollars in labor costs. It can also free them to transfer skilled employees from routine sorting jobs to other areas throughout a municipality that would benefit more from human touch.
Neitzey expects MRFs to constantly evolve as the wastestream with which they are dealing continues to change, too. For instance, many municipalities converted to single-stream services from 2000 through about the year 2010, he says. The wastestream, though, was different back then. The stream in those days generally consisted of about 60% old newsprint, or ONP.
That has changed significantly during the last several years. Now there is very little true ONP in wastestreams. There is a higher percentage of trash, glass, chipboard, and boxboard packaging material.
The financials of the waste and recycling industry have changed, too, along with the wastestream. Processors are being forced to take a closer look at their facilities and how they might need to change. “The number of outlets to sell the fiber material to have been consolidated,” recalls Neitzey. “So while processors are still depreciating their original investment, they are getting more challenging inbound materials and have fewer customers to sell outbound material, too. I think many processors are really thinking about what the stream will look like in five to 10 more years as they look to retrofit or build a new facility.”
To thrive during this time, municipalities will have to rely on technology and data to make sure that their MRFs are operating as efficiently as possible for the changed wastestream that they are processing.
According to Neitzey, smart technology, driven by more data about customers and waste streams, will be the key. This same technology will give municipalities the ability to better utilize their labor forces, too.
“The MRF of the future will be able to give the processor, and the municipality, more metrics about what is in the inbound stream, all from advanced PLC systems,” he says. “It will be more flexible to adapt to the inbound stream changes. It will have people only at quality control check stations, not as primary pre-sort personnel.”
In Sites’ view, municipalities would be more willing to embrace new technology if the market for reclaimed materials was stronger. But today, unfortunately, prices for recycled materials just aren’t high enough to justify some of the MRF technology found in Europe.
“The municipalities are embracing new technology, when it makes economic sense,” he says. “But the cost of commodities is holding us back a bit. Right now, it can be hard to pencil out the numbers. But as more tech does become available, it will make MRFs efficient enough, and reduce the operating costs enough, to allow them to invest in new processes without hurting their bottom lines. That will be the key.”
