Recycle Ann Arbor recently finished a $7.25 million MRF overhaul.

The success of environmental conservationism teach-ins at the University of Michigan prompted a group of community members to form Recycle Ann Arbor (RAA). The nonprofit’s goals are to reduce waste through education, promote outreach and reuse programs and ensure recyclables are in fact recycled. This zero-waste approach has informed the organization in everything it has done for more than 40 years—including a $7.25-million overhaul of a material recovery facility (MRF).

“What we’re trying to do is honor the material as it goes completely through the facility,” says RAA CEO Bryan Ukena. “This means how we handle the material collection, how it's run through the facility and how we treat the people processing the material.”

Before the facility opened, Ann Arbor and the surrounding communities transferred recyclables to a Cincinnati facility owned by Rumpke Waste & Recycling for about four years. 

The original MRF, which formerly was operated by Charlotte, North Carolina-based ReCommunity, which Phoenix-based Republic Services acquired in 2017, fell into disrepair. It was closed in 2016 because of safety concerns stemming from the status of the equipment. Instead, the site was operated as a transfer point between the community and the processing facility.

The updated facility was funded in part by an $800,000 grant from Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). In addition to the grant, RAA raised $5.1 million in private funds from Level One Bank, Farmington Hills, Michigan, and $800,000 from Closed Loop Partners, New York, to finance the project.

RAA partnered with Machinex, based in Plessissville, Quebec, to design its new processing system. RAA chose Machinex because Ukena had worked with the company on four other facilities and knew Machinex had experience retrofitting existing facilities. Work on the MRF took about a year to complete, and it officially opened Dec. 1, 2021.

The facility is 55,000 square feet and has about 30 employees. It recovers mixed-color high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles, natural HDPE bottles, aluminum cans, steel cans, mixed paper, polyethylene terephthalate bottles, old corrugated containers (OCC) and glass. Ukena says MRF is designed to be a regional hub that can process 34,000 tons annually with a single shift. 

The MRF primarily serves the city of Ann Arbor under a 10-year contract. However, It also processes materials from Ypsilanti, Michigan, and the surrounding area. These cities previously shipped recyclables out of state for sorting or cut back their municipal recycling programs. Currently, RAA’s MRF takes in about 24,000 tons per month, and 91 percent of that material gets recycled, Ukena says.

Ukena says the driving force behind the MRF is its goal of zero-waste output at every stage of processing. Its physical redesign and operating strategy are driven by a zero-waste ethic to rebuild a credible, transparent recycling system.

“We call it a zero-waste MRF as opposed to just a traditional integrated waste management,” Ukena says. “An integrated waste management MRF is just one that tries to process as much material as it can. Production and revenues are key [in those facilities].” 

Ukena says the MRF prioritizes mitigating climate change, protecting the health of the workers on the line and preserving valuable resources alongside maintaining long-term financial viability. This means RAA considers how the material is collected, how it’s processed and how it can capture as much of the residual materials for reuse. 

The organization’s zero-waste principles began in the design process when RAA required Machinex to build around a two-ram baler from Harris, Cordele, Georgia and a glass breaker screen from CP Group of San Diego that the organization wanted to reuse. Machinex designed the MRF to have double the sorting capabilities, so the end product is the best quality. 

“We want to take the material to its highest value and best use,” Ukena says. “We want to make sure it has the chance for it to get recycled again and again.”

The material is dumped on the southeast side of the facility and then loaded into a surge hopper and metering drum. It then goes to a presort house to remove hazardous items, such as lithium-ion batteries, plastic film and small appliances. Ukena says the house is fitted with climate control and air filtration, so the sorters aren’t subjected to harsh conditions while working.

Next, the material encounters an OCC screen, which removes large pieces of cardboard, and goes into the glass breaker. Once the glass has been removed, the remaining material is fed to two ballistic separators that separate two-dimensional material from three-dimensional material. The three-dimensional material then encounters an overhead magnet, which captures ferrous material, and an eddy current separator that recovers the aluminum. The material is then optically sorted to recover PET. 

On the paper line, workers sort the remaining OCC from the mixed paper.

The sorted materials are placed into one of five bunkers that feed an in-ground conveyor that takes the material to the two-ram baler.

Ukena says RAA will open some of the bales produced to ensure they are of the highest quality possible.

RAA takes a community-based approach to the end markets it sells the recovered recyclables to. The organization says it works to keep the material as local as possible, so it helps fund jobs and keeps money in the community.

“We try to tighten our footprint as much as we can about where we go with stuff,” Ukena says. “We don't send it overseas. For example, our paper markets are 180 miles away and Wapakoneta, Ohio, where there is a tree-free mill that only uses recycled content.”

One of the ways the organization chooses its consuming customers is based on how each facility supports its workers and local community. RAA also takes into consideration how a facility manages material.

“We can't always [sell to consumers that support our commodities],” Ukena says. “This is a business, you know, but we take it very seriously when people place their recyclables at the curb. That's an agreement we make with our community that we're going to try to do the right thing with those materials and not throw them away or not use them as aggregate in landfills.”

Ukena says RAA plans to expand what it collects at the MRF. At the end of last year, EGLE awarded the organization a $200,000 grant to begin sorting No. 5, or polypropylene (PP), plastic. 

RAA is applying the money toward the installation of a Machinex SamurAI robot on the container line at the end of October. The robot will be fitted with a camera that will assist it in identifying items to positively sort. This includes PP, HDPE natural and HDPE colored. Ukena says the robot will make about 60 picks per minute.

Additionally, Ukena says RAA has plans to install three more robots at the MRF over the next few years. While it’s unclear which company will supply the additional robots, RAA is considering using them for quality control for used beverage cans and PET. The organization also is considering placing one on the container line to ensure no plastic was missed. 

Ukena says he hopes the work RAA has done at the facility can serve as a blueprint for other companies considering the same approach. 

“Recycling needs to be authentic to reap all the potential benefits it can bring,” Ukena said in a statement announcing the MRF’s opening. “In addition to creating much-needed recycling capacity to Southeast Michigan, we want our zero-waste MRF to be a model for anchoring effective recycling programs and systems.”

The construction equipment company's $6.4 million technical training center in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, should be completed in early 2023.

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) broke ground April 6 on a new $6.4 million technician training center at the company’s North American headquarters in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. 

Scheduled to open in early 2023, the world-class facility will host in-person and virtual training courses for heavy equipment technicians, according to a news release from the company.

The training facility will be an extension of the 40-acre Volvo CE Customer Center and will include new machine bays, classrooms, a virtual lab with video, augmented reality and other technologies. Training opportunities primarily will be for Volvo dealer technicians and will include technical courses on equipment and technology and services, such as machine control systems and advanced telematics. Training and demonstrations also will be offered on electric machines, automation and connectivity. Advanced technology played a role in the groundbreaking ceremony with a Volvo ECR25 Electric compact excavator officially breaking ground on the project. The first North American deliveries of the zero-emission electric excavator and L25 Electric compact wheel loader are scheduled for this spring and will soon be working on construction sites, farms and in other applications.

In addition to supporting Volvo CE dealers and customers, the $6.4 million training center is an investment in the Pennsylvania economy.

“I congratulate Volvo CE on the groundbreaking of its brand-new North American technician training facility,” said U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. “Not only does this project provide advanced opportunities for Volvo’s workforce and customers, but it demonstrates the company’s continued investment in Pennsylvania and the local Shippensburg community.”

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, Pennsylvania, also was on hand to offer his thanks and congratulations.

“Volvo employs thousands of Pennsylvanians, many in good-paying manufacturing jobs,” Casey said. “This center shows Volvo’s commitment to investing in their workers by providing them with skills and training to succeed at Volvo.” Pennsylvania District 13 Rep. Dr. John Joyce said the project showed his district is “open for business.”

“This $6.4 million expansion of the Volvo CE Customer Center will be a decisive asset for the Shippensburg community,” he added. “Having visited this incredible facility, I appreciate Volvo’s commitment to Franklin and Cumberland counties, and I am confident that this facility will continue to produce family-sustaining jobs for decades to come.” Design and construction work is being led by several Pennsylvania firms: Herbert, Rowland & Grubic Inc. will design the site, and NUTEC and Waynesboro Construction will team up on architecture and engineering.

The 15-year contract begins in August 2024.

The San Antonio City Council has approved an ordinance awarding Balcones Resources Inc., headquartered in Austin, Texas, a 15-year municipal recycling contract that will begin Aug. 1, 2024.

Under the terms of the contract, Balcones will build and operate a 200,000-square-foot, $47 million material recovery facility (MRF) and recycling education center in San Antonio. The facility will combine the latest innovations in recycling technology with employee wellness and community engagement programs, according to the company. This will be the Balcones' sixth recycling facility and the fourth in Texas.

“The city of San Antonio has a long history of sustainability and, being one of the fastest-growing municipalities in the country, they had a very clear expectation for the future of their recycling program,” Balcones President Adam Vehik says. “Our goal was to deliver a recycling campus that was without peer anywhere in the country.”

The campus’ MRF will be custom-engineered to prioritize high recycling capture rates, employee safety and quality control, the company says. The MRF will feature the latest technology to ensure Balcones produces the highest-grade materials possible.

“Recycling continues to be a better economic option than the landfill, and our commitment to recovery rates and material quality will have a direct financial benefit to the city of San Antonio,” Vehik says. “We are excited about the environmental and economic impact that the recycling campus will bring to the community.”

Balcones says all recyclables recovered at the MRF will be marketed in North America, prioritizing Texas-based companies.

The company says it will create approximately 70 new full-time environmental jobs in San Antonio to operate the facility. The campus will include a number of on-site resources:

South Carolina-based company joins the Australia-based Aluminium Stewardship Initiative.

Charleston, South Carolina-based JW Aluminum says it has joined the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) as a “Production & Transformation” member. The Melbourne, Australia-based ASI describes itself as a global nonprofit standards-setting and certification organization.

ASI says it encourages collaboration between aluminum producers, users and stakeholders to “foster responsible production, sourcing and stewardship of aluminum.” 

JW Aluminum produces rolled aluminum sheet and foil at its facilities in South Carolina and Arkansas. The company uses a high percentage of recycled aluminum content in its process and produces aluminum that can be infinitely recycled, says the firm.

“Joining the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative reinforces our strong commitment to sustainability and broader environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives,” says Ryan Roush, JW chief operating officer. “Given our position in the aluminum value chain, we have a unique opportunity, and responsibility, to leverage aluminum's everlasting nature to its fullest.”

As a new member, JW Aluminum is beginning the certification process for its recently expanded facility in Goose Creek, South Carolina.

“It’s a rigorous, comprehensive and cross-functional process that will provide added transparency to our core customers and all stakeholders who share the goal to achieve a circular economy and live up to ESG principles, says Roush. “We’re committed to secure a safe, sustainable future for generations to come, for the good of all stakeholders, American manufacturing and our planet.”

Panama City, Florida, mill had made kraft board from virgin fiber.

Atlanta-based WestRock Co. has announced it will permanently cease operations at its mill in Panama City, Florida, by early June of this year. A 2018 report on Florida paper mills prepared by Atlanta-based Moore & Associates characterized the mill at that time as being “virgin-fiber based.”

The mill produces containerboard—primarily heavyweight kraft—and fluff pulp, according to WestRock, with a combined annual capacity of 645,000 tons. “Select grades of containerboard currently produced at the mill will be manufactured at other WestRock facilities,” the company says.

David B. Sewell, CEO of WestRock, says of the closing, “As we implement our plans to close the Panama City mill, we do so with great appreciation for the many contributions of the team there. We are committed to assisting our Panama City team with exploring roles at other WestRock locations and outplacement assistance.” The Panama City mill employs approximately 450 people.

The mill in Panama City would require significant capital investment to maintain and improve going forward, WestRock says. In addition, production of fluff pulp is “not a priority in the company’s strategy to focus on higher value markets,” the company says.