Technological advancements in the recycling industry need to continue to evolve quickly in order to keep up with the amount of product that goes through our recycling systems, especially in single-stream MRFs.
By Richard聽 W. Gil
The recycling industry has seen many challenges in the past year. We have recognized that recycling profits are difficult to forecast because they are subject to the volatility of the commodities market; with new regulations and initiatives in recycling and sustainability, the amount of recyclable product and material in the market has increased. That said, it is also challenging for processing facilities to forecast how much plastic vs. paper and other like material will be recycled in a given year. Taking these challenges into consideration, there is a need for increased quantity and quality in equipment, labor and quality control practices, as the cost of collecting and processing recyclables continues to increase. And, as more and more consumers and retailers take an interest in the importance of waste management and putting recycling systems in place, we still need simplified recycling guidelines to ensure the most effective practices.
In recent years, the facilities themselves have witnessed some of the greatest challenges in the recycling industry. There is a constant demand for them to evolve in real time in order to adjust recycling methods for more advanced packaging, new quality control inspections, and more complex and diverse regulations. As the amount of trash exported out of the country continues to grow, the more far-reaching regulations have become. For example, counties like China are setting regulations on what types of waste they will accept for reuse. China鈥檚 鈥楪reen Fence鈥� initiative was established in 2013 to set strict inspections on what kind of waste the country would accept from the U.S., with the goal to decrease the amount of cross-contaminated waste the country would accept.
Waste composition has also changed drastically in recent years. The industry introduced single-stream MRFs to encourage better habits in more frequent recycling behavior from both general and commercial consumers, which has increased the volume of waste input to the systems. As a result though, the single-stream breeds a lot of contamination that devalues waste output. Most notably, we have seen that glass is typically a source for contamination in the single stream. It is challenging to divert effectively, and until the infrastructure is improved, the industry faces new challenges in understanding the different technologies and resources that need to be developed. This instability in input to output value requires recyclers to produce higher value material from waste in order to maintain a benefit to the value chain. A cyclical effect results in recyclers investing in new and upgraded facilities in order to match the changing input and requirements, while maintaining output and revenue.
That said, there are still significant advancements in technology across the value chain that need to be addressed in order to ensure a more cost-effective way to collect, sort and sell/reuse commodities or products鈥攅specially for materials like plastic and glass, which are known to make certain recycling processes more difficult.
Recycling Challenges
Managing waste streams continues to pique the interest of both consumers and companies. More and more consumers are educating themselves on sustainability initiatives, while companies are looking for more impactful ways to reduce their waste footprint鈥攁nd, in turn, catch the attention of consumers. The U.S. waste management market is not expected to plateau anytime soon though; in fact, plastic production is expected to double again in the next 20 years, and nearly quadruple by 2050. As a direct result of factors including population growth and the overall increase in consumption of commodities, recycling and waste management are crucial for a sustainable and clean future.
Each time plastic goes through the recycling process, it continues to degrade and decrease in quality. Despite efforts of a circular economy, a new report launched by the World Economic Forum found that only 5 percent of plastics are recycled effectively, 40 percent end up in landfills and a third end up in our oceans. Select plastics also contain different levels of polyethylene, which then need to be very carefully sorted to ensure avoidance of cross-contamination. As noted previously, contamination is one of the greatest pain points of the single-stream MRF. To date, more plastic is burned or put in landfills than actually recycled. Creating another problem, as burning plastic can potentially release fatal compounds into the atmosphere.
Changing waste composition presents another unique challenge when managing the waste stream. Packaging materials and advancements in plastic composition continue to evolve to meet consumer efficiency needs. For example, multi-pack resins and moisture barriers are added to preserve things like food for later consumption. While this is a benefit, the addition of more layers of packaging increases the volume of trash being sent to landfills, where space is already limited and cross-contamination is a breeding problem. Individual U.S. states have taken it upon themselves to adjust for cross-contamination by using different technology. For example, Cascade Recycling Center in Washington uses a glass sorting technology to minimize glass contamination.
Material Recovery Facilities
The increase in MRFs over the past few years has become the foundation of the recycling industry and has helped ease the recycling process. In fact, a survey from Resource Recycling Systems and Moore Recycling Associates reports that nearly 90 percent of single-family curbside recycling is now participating in the waste and recycling habits promoted by MRFs.
MRFs participate in the waste and recycling process by strategically sorting out product such as paper, plastic, cardboard, metal containers and glass materials that are typically collected from residents and commercial customers from a single-stream鈥攁 system in which all these materials are recycled in a mixed collection truck. MRFs also help with the 鈥渆nd components of waste,鈥� by removing recyclable materials such as glass and specific metals that might not be suitable for incineration, compost or combustion. From the initial conveyor, to sorting and gravity separators鈥攁ir tables that separate light and heavily dense materials鈥擬RFs focus on their design to ensure proper sorting and high-quality end products.
Communicating Recycling Basics to Consumers
As previously noted, MRF design has seen the most change within this industry category. MRFs and the recycling industry are working to increase, simplify and streamline communications to better educate the public on recycling basics鈥攁 way to break down how, where and why we should recycle. Many MRFs must reach a target landfill diversion rate based on individual state or local requirements, making social context and community engagement particularly important. Community involvement can help serve as an indicator as to whether or not members understand how or are willing to separate recyclable materials, ultimately, helping the recycling process. As MRFs operate on a local scale, they work with community members to educate them through opportunities like facility tours. For example, some MRFs will discuss guidelines with community members on issues like noise capacity, safety, odor and site design to be more community friendly.
Further, one of the greatest improvements needed in MRFs and recycling as a whole is a simplified understanding on the do鈥檚 and don鈥檛s of product recycling. Better bin management is also needed by consumers to increase the quality of product input to MRFs. We are already seeing some retailers make proactive decisions on this. For example, Wal-Mart publicly asked vendors to only deliver products that come in recyclable material to their stores, or they will not accept it.
An immediate area of focus should be on plastic bags and glass, where there are easier, cost-effective recycling solutions for consumers to improve on today. For example, stores have plastic bag recycling bins where customers can easily return their bags. Traditionally, even returning glass bottles came with a monetary incentive of between 10 to 25 cents. The promotion of these eco-friendly practices can make all the difference.
To this end, technological advancements in the recycling industry need to continue to evolve quickly in order to keep up with the amount of product that goes through our recycling systems, especially in single-stream MRFs. Infrastructure needs to grow to handle the increased volume and variety to avoid contamination, and we need more technology to take the dirty materials and convert them to valuable recycled products. Lastly, we must give equal attention to the design of packaging and how compostable or reusable the materials are鈥攖he goal in mind is to dispose the highest quality of products to be reused.
Richard W. Gil is Vice President of Business Development, Recycling and Waste for HAVI Global Solutions (Downers Grove, IL). For more information, visit