Page 22 - Hub-4 Magazine ISsue 64

Recycling - MRF’S
The increasing need for
new and modernised MRFs
Increasing numbers of ageing MRFs are being updated to meet today’s more challenging requirements, and new MRFs are being designed and built differently to those of the past. Ruben Maistry, UK Sales Manager for STADLER, explains why and how.
As the recycling industry adapts to shifting market demands and tougher legislation, materials recovery facilities are having to change. This essential modernisation process necessitates more than incremental improvements in technologies. Every fundamental step in an MRF’s operations – sorting, processing, storage, and shipment – has to be thoroughly assessed to ensure the facility’s optimum performance, not only now but also in the future. And because waste streams differ in composition and volume from one place to another, MRFs must be tailored to the waste- management needs of their own particular location and clients.
of cardboard in the overall material stream is increasing. And as manufacturers reduce the weight of plastic containers and aluminium cans, MRFs have to sort and process greater numbers of these items to produce a bale of marketable material.
On top of this, the once-easy
‘solution’ of making waste someone else’s problem by shipping it to foreign shores is disappearing. The short-notice introduction in 2018 of China’s National Sword regulations had repercussions for waste-exporters globally, and now other countries are also expected to tighten their waste-import restrictions.
Solving this complex matrix of challenges is the specialisation of STADLER UK, a subsidiary of STADLER Anlagenbau GmbH in Germany. STADLER has sometimes been inaccurately thought of as a consultant but is in fact much more. In addition to designing, manufacturing, and assembling automated sorting systems and machinery for the recycling industry, STADLER also designs, builds, and upgrades world-class MRFs. To date, the company has built or optimised 85 MRFs, most in Europe and six in the UK.
One of these modernisation projects, completed in the UK last year, provides an insight into STADLER’s approach. This multi- million-pound project replaced an existing facility. The objectives were to increase capacity and improve output quality.,. To achieve these goals STADLER implemented a phased plan typical of its approach with other projects.
At the start of a project, STADLER looks at the MRF’s infeed composition, desired output, and existing processes. Examining process-flows identifies bottlenecks and how to eliminate them. Phase 1 also examines mass balances and
A brief look at recycling trends helps explain the evolving emphasis of work conducted at MRFs. The relative values of recycled commodities are changing, contamination levels of kerbside-collected materials are increasing, and the composition of single-stream recyclable materials is altering. Municipal solid waste (MSW) is a good example. As consumers move from print- to digital news media, the once- huge proportion of newspaper in the overall material stream is declining. As more shopping is done online, the proportion
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www.hub-4.com Sept/October 2020 - Issue 64