Recycling Product News October 2022, Volume 30, Number 7

SORTERS IN

EMTERRA’S FLEET.

As an early adopter of CNG refuse trucks and other green technologies, it was natural that Emterra would also be ahead of the curve when it came to adopting electric collection vehicles. See more on page 20.

OCTOBER 2022 | VOLUME 30 • NUMBER 7

EDITOR IN CHIEF Kaitlyn Till ktill@baumpub.com 604-291-9900 ext. 330

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Arturo Santiago asantiago@baumpub.com 604-291-9900 ext. 310

EDITOR Slone Fox sfox@baumpub.com 604-291-9900 ext. 335

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES Sam Esmaili sam@baumpub.com 604-291-9900 ext. 110

ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER

Tina Anderson production@baumpub.com 604-291-9900 ext. 222

DESIGN & PRODUCTION

Morena Zanotto morena@baumpub.com 604-291-9900 ext. 325

PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER

Ken Singer ksinger@baumpub.com 604-291-9900 ext. 226

VICE PRESIDENT/CONTROLLER

Melvin Date Chong mdatechong@baumpub.com

FOUNDER Engelbert J. Baum

WE’D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU

Do you have a story, equipment or technology innovation, commentary, or news that our readers in the recycling industry should know about? Drop us a line any time.

Contact: Editor Slone Fox at sfox@baumpub.com or 604-291-9900 ext. 335

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FROM THE EDITOR

LOOKING TOWARD A FUTURE OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS FOR WASTE HAULING

All it takes is one trip to the gas station to know that fossil fuels are becoming less and less viable these days. While the solid waste industry already began its transition away from diesel years ago, there’s still a lot to be explored in terms of alternative fuels and their place in the waste hauling and collection sector. With ever-evolving policies and a push from all sides to adopt a more circular and sustainable way of doing things, many companies are adapting their fleets to include greener fuel solutions such as compressed natural gas (CNG), battery-electric power, or renewable natural gas (RNG).

On the RNG front, Republic Services is just one company spearheading this shift toward greener fuel solutions. After re cently partnering with Archaea Energy on a joint venture that includes plans to develop 39 new renewable natural gas proj ects at landfills owned or operated by Republic Services, the first of these facilities is currently in the process of being built. The finished facility will take the gas that naturally occurs during waste decomposition at Republic Services’ landfills, and will convert it into pipeline-quality renewable natural gas that can be used as a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels. This project marks just one of 77 other renewable energy projects that Republic Services is already involved with at its landfills across the U.S.

And when it comes to companies that are taking advan tage of CNG and battery-electric options, Emterra Group is playing a lead role in both categories. For this month’s cover story, I spoke with Chief Operations Officer Brad Muter about Emterra’s recent order of a Mack LR Electric, the first in Canada. While this shift to electrification marks a huge milestone for the company, it’s just one facet of their much larger sustainability journey. As an early adopter of CNG, it’s natural that Emterra would be quick to incorporate electric vehicles into its fleet as well. Turn to page 20 in this issue to find out more about how Emterra Group has leveraged these technologies to help secure its spot as one of the greenest employers in Canada.

For a deeper dive on the suitability of other alternative fuels, turn to page 42 of this issue to read the Solid Waste Association of North America’s new report assessing the viability of elec

While the industry is still a ways off from a full-scale switch to alternative fuels, these emerging technologies have become a catalyst for change in the industry and don’t appear to be losing momentum anytime soon.

tricity and other alternative fuels for solid waste and recycling collection vehicles. The report analyzes electricity, hydrogen fuel cells, compressed and renewable natural gas, and ultra-low sulfur and renewable diesel in terms of their energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, fuel cost, total cost, and stage of commercialization.

While the industry is still a ways off from a full-scale switch to alternative fuels, these emerging technologies have become a catalyst for change in the industry and don’t appear to be losing momentum anytime soon. I look forward to keeping up with where the alternative fuel markets are heading in the sector and covering its inevitable upward trajectory in the coming years.

SLONE FOX Editor

Fuelling trucks with farm waste

—

Ontario’s first carbon-negative waste truck runs on cow manure

Enbridge Gas partnered with Bluewater Recycling Association and Ontario Waste Management Association to help waste collection vehicles achieve a zero carbon footprint using renewable natural gas (RNG), affordably and practically, without sacrificing performance, reliability or range.

On top of the carbon reduction from RNG, in its first six months, Bluewater’s truck will displace carbon emissions from eighteen thousand litres of diesel.

Get free, expert help to switch

We help fleet owners create the business case for switching. Take advantage of support to calculate potential savings and create a conversion plan that works within your budgets. Learn more at: enbridgegas.com/rng

This project is a natural next step in the progressive conversion of our fleet from diesel to a cleaner energy source.

Francis Veilleux, President of Bluewater Recycling Association

What is carbonnegative?

When RNG is produced from organic waste that would otherwise decay and create methane emissions, the process captures more greenhouses gases than it emits, making it carbon-negative.

Unlocking the value of organic waste

Waste management companies can also take advantage of a new revenue opportunity by producing and selling RNG.

TEREX MP ACQUIRES ZENROBOTICS

Terex Materials Processing (Terex MP) has acquired the assets of ZenRobotics, a company that designs and creates robots that pick, sort, and recycle waste material. Based in Helsinki, Finland, ZenRobotics will retain its name and become a Terex brand.

ZenRobotics was started in 2007 by creating a completely new market for robotic waste sorting. Today, it continues to automate the waste industry by helping operators upgrade their recycling infrastructure to become more efficient.

In 2009, ZenRobotics started to use AI-based robots in the waste-sorting process. This led the team to open opportunities by introducing the first ZenRobotics Recycler in Helsinki. Since that time, it has become a global operation including expansion into China and the U.S. market in 2016.

ZenRobotics’ goal is to help recyclers extract higher value out of waste, get more actionable data, and reach ambitious circu lar economy targets. Terex is already active within global waste markets through Terex Ecotec, Terex CBI, Terex Fuchs, and Terex Recycling. ZenRobotics will add to the Terex portfolio in global waste, where it will continue to be operated as a standalone business while also benefiting from Terex MP’s broader market presence and from efficiencies enabled by Terex MP’s global scale.

“ZenRobotics is an exciting, modern company that lends itself perfectly to our pre-existing environmental expertise, and their ethos of making a circular economy more possible aligns perfectly with our goals and targets for the future of Terex MP,” says Tony Devlin, business director at Terex Ecotec and CBI. “We’re excited to see the many ways that we can apply this tech nology and what potential this acquisition can bring Terex MP with the application of this technology. The journey that we’re about to begin with ZenRobotics and Terex MP is one that we look forward to starting, and we extend a warm welcome to our new colleagues into the Terex MP team.”

CP GROUP WINS NWRA’S INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD

CP Group has been named NWRA’s 2022 Innovator of the Year for the company’s OCC auger screen. The award recognizes recycling equipment designers and man ufacturers that successfully challenge and advance recycling sector operations and celebrates innovation in design and manufacturing that increases the effectiveness or efficiency of recycling equipment and operations.

The OCC auger screen is a non-round anti-wrapping and anti-jamming auger screen that does not need to be presorted and creates a finished OCC product. Because the screen is can tilevered, all wrapping materials screw off the end, making it low maintenance with minimal cleaning required. The screen fractionates out the smaller material stream so that sorters only see the larger stream which improves sorter safety by reducing exposure to sharps. The non-round attribute of the auger flights creates the agitation needed to produce a clean OCC product.

The machine prototype design was completed in 2017 and the first machine was manufactured in 2019. After months of testing, the prototype machine was installed in the Waste Con nections Ecosort facility in Eugene, Oregon, which processes commercial material and is still running today.

The first residential single MRF utilizing a non-round OCC auger screen for the direct and final screening of OCC material began operation in late 2021. According to CP Group, the Metro Waste Authority (MWA) MRF in Des Moines, Iowa, is the first high-volume single-stream MRF in North America to operate without a pre-sort or post-sort station of any kind – all removal of non-program material is performed at quality control sta tions or is the negative sort of the system – which is a 100 per cent reduction in labour dedicated to non-program material.

Several OCC auger screens are currently in production and are in the quote process.

DS SMITH SURVEY FINDS YOUNGER GENERATIONS LEAST CONFIDENT ABOUT RECYCLING

New research from DS Smith has shown that the genera tional gap in recycling has gone global with older peo ple more than any other generation holding themselves accountable for the responsible recycling of boxes.

While Gen Z is often considered to be the most environmen tally conscious, they have the least confidence among all age groups in knowing how to recycle, based on DS Smith’s new survey in the U.K. that matches a similar company poll in the United States.

In the latest U.K. poll, two-thirds of Gen Z respondents (those born from 1997 to 2012) blame barriers to recycling, including confusion over what items can be recycled, a shortage of recy cling bins, and a lack of clear disposal instructions on products. Only 41 percent of those over age 55 see such obstacles. Plus, twice as many in the Gen Z group compared to older genera tions say they don’t know where to find advice on recycling.

A DS Smith survey in the U.S., released in 2021, found that Baby Boomers are the most motivated to recycle leftover boxes. Broken out by generation, Baby Boomers (71 percent) hold themselves more accountable for responsibly recycling their boxes than other groups such as millennials (60 percent), Gen Z (59 percent), and Gen X (58 percent).

The U.S. survey found that all groups were united when asked about the surplus of boxes from e-commerce spending and the message was clear: They’re not bothered by the extra packages but do want them made of sustainable materials.

About 44 percent of those surveyed report getting more shopping deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 15 percent saying they are “drowning in boxes.” Three-quarters (73 percent) of those polled say they care if the box is made from sustainable materials.

WENDT ESTABLISHES FOOTPRINT IN EUROPE WITH FORMATION OF WENDT CORPORATION GMBH

Wendt Corporation has formed Wendt Corporation GmbH. The formation represents a continued growth strategy by the company to expand its inter national presence.

With Wendt’s 45 years of experience in North America, the development of Wendt GmbH establishes an operational foot print for Wendt’s products in the European market. Wendt will leverage the complementary resources of many European part ners, including long-standing partnerships with MTB (France)

and Moros (Spain), to support manufacturing in central Europe. The partnerships will aid in accelerating the delivery of Wendt’s scrap processing plants throughout Europe and Asia, while also providing sales, service, and support directly from Europe.

The creation of Wendt GmbH comes after the company re leased international expansion plans. In 2019, Wendt outlined a strategic plan that more closely aligned with the company’s prior ities for future growth. These initiatives have aided the company to accelerate enterprise growth and establish a global framework.

GFL WINS RECYCLING FACILITY OF THE YEAR FOR MULTIMATERIAL RECOVERY CAMPUS IN TORONTO

GFL Environmental has been awarded the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) 2022 Recycling Facility of the Year award for its multi-material recovery campus in Toronto, Ontario. GFL’s Toronto multi-material recovery campus is located on a 27-acre site that houses two single-stream MRFs that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The first MRF developed on the campus began operations in 2010 and has since been modified to house an advanced single-stream processing system. The 124 Arrow Road MRF

was built in 2013 for the City of Toronto’s single stream process ing contract, with excess capacity for future opportunities. The facility was designed with sustainability and future needs at the forefront of all decision making.

Both facilities are designed with technology including optical sorting, fully automated sorting robots, and other mechani cal separation processes. This design allows GFL to adapt to changing material composition and ensure the end production of high-quality processed recyclables. A dedicated material composition analysis centre is also located on site.

The campus serves the material recovery needs of approxi mately four million municipal households and has processed over 3.5 million tons of material from municipal and commer cial sources since its inception.

SK ECOPLANT INVESTS $50 MILLION IN ASCEND ELEMENTS

Ascend Elements has received a $50 million investment from SK ecoplant. The investment demonstrates SK ecoplant’s commitment to the North American EV battery market. Previously, SK Battery America (SKBA) selected Ascend Elements to recycle lithium-ion battery manufacturing scrap from its facility which produces EV batteries for the Ford F-150 Lightning and the Volkswagen ID.4.

SK ecoplant’s investment will help accelerate the commer cialization of Ascend Elements’ hydro-to-cathode direct precur sor synthesis process technology, which transforms recycled lithium-ion batteries and manufacturing scrap into customized EV battery cathode precursor and cathode active materials that meet or exceed set performance standards.

Ascend Elements will invest up to $1 billion over several phases to build a sustainable lithium-ion battery materials facility in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The manufacturing facility, known as Apex 1, will produce enough lithium-ion battery precursor and sustainable cathode active material to equip up to 250,000 electric vehicles per year.

SPOTLIGHT

INTRODUCTIONS & UPDATES

Compact wheel loaders

John Deere Construction & Forestry COMPACT WHEEL LOADERS

John Deere has expanded its performance tiering strategy with three new compact wheel loaders. The brand-new 184 G-tier is the most economical model in the lineup according to the company, making compact wheel loaders more accessible to those looking to expand their fleets. The smaller two G-tier models, the 184 G-tier and 204 G-tier, feature a rugged, compact design that helps the operator maneuver within tight areas while maintaining complete control of the machine. The largest of the three new models, the 304 G-tier, delivers productivity enhancements and features an increased travel speed of 18.6 mph (30 km/h).

Wastequip

COMPACTORS

Wastequip’s OptiPak compactors deliver ideal toughness in compact sizes. Available with 3-yard front- and rear-load con tainers and four-, six-, or eight-yard front-load containers, the OptiPak series features a four-in-one head with 90-degree rota tion, allowing for a full 360-degree pack in just 30 seconds. De signed to navigate tight spaces like apartments and alleyways, the head can freely arrange the direction the top faces, allow ing for an orientation that fits the space it occupies. The adjust able legs also provide additional versatility for easier shipping and on-site height adjustments. In addition, the new OptiPak features an updated control panel and a new motor. The control panel has been streamlined from its previous design, providing a better user experience while adding operational settings that can be tailored to meet individual user preferences. Powered by a DC motor, the OptiPak provides increased reliability and reduced downtime.

Compactor

Emerson MACHINE VISUALIZATION TECHNOLOGY

Emerson’s PACSystems RXi HMI is a next-generation machine visualization solution designed to help users overcome the limitations of lower budgets and higher productivity demands. The highly intuitive human-machine interface (HMI) ad dresses the needs of the industrial workforce with easy-to-use graphical displays and is IIoT-ready for data analysis, trouble shooting, and diagnostics, providing users with operational insights. A data trending tool provides a clear snapshot of productivity and quality, while the SQLite database tool and PAC analyzer help users troubleshoot problems and minimize downtime. In addition, it provides extensive protocol support with OPC UA for better data contextualization and MQTT for easy cloud connectivity.

Maguire GRAVIMETRIC FEEDERS

The new Maguire MGF+ feeder line incorporates standard gravimetric feeder options and includes up to four different size auger feeders on one mounting frame all using a common touchscreen control. These new options allow for more flexibil ity and increased performance for all types of molding and ex trusion processes and can also be retrofitted to accommodate existing Maguire feeder equipment. For each unique feeder, the dispensed material is measured precisely and accurately to maintain the correct desired percentage and can be configured to accommodate various processing requirements in the most optimal way possible.

SENNEBOGEN

ELECTRIC MATERIAL HANDLER

SENNEBOGEN’s battery-powered electric material handler, the 825 Electro Battery, is tailored to meet the demanding require ments of the metal recycling industry. The 825 Electro Battery works with both battery operation and with a cabled power supply, allowing the machine to operate without restrictions in terms of space and time. Depending on the power require ment, the 378 kW lithium-ion battery pack installed in the rear enables working times of up to eight hours without recharging. Stationary work is able to be carried out by connecting the machine to a power supply via the charging point on the under carriage. When charging, excess power is being fed to simulta neously recharge the batteries.

Gravimetric feeders

Machine visualization technology

Electric material handler

PLASTIC RECYCLING UPDATE

PCX MARKETS LAUNCHES GLOBAL PLATFORM FOR PURCHASING CERTIFIED PLASTIC CREDITS

PCX Markets has launched an online platform for pur chasing certified plastic credits from multiple providers which integrates blockchain-verified, tokenized plastic credit transactions. Companies can then purchase these credits to offset both their essential plastic use and their historic plas tic footprints.

PCX Markets will work closely with the established non-prof it arm of the business, PCX Solutions, to give companies the opportunity to meet country-specific EPR compliance and achieve voluntary net-zero plastic waste certification. Plastic credit projects are verified against globally accepted plastic credit standards such as PCX Solutions’ Plastic Pollution Re duction Standard (PPRS) and Verra’s Plastic Waste Reduction Standard (PWRS).

The PCX Markets platform also provides access to a plastic footprint calculator, which helps organizations understand their footprint and establish plastic reduction and offsetting targets. The platform offers users projects to match their objec tives to remove plastic from the environment and fund waste

collection and infrastructure programs.

PCX Markets partners with community-based and institu tional projects globally including:

• HOPE’s Aling Tindera waste-to-cash program, based in the Philippines, which focuses on female micro entrepreneurs who champion plastic waste recovery systems in their communities. To date, the program has collected 187,420 kg of plastic waste and boosted Aling Tindera incomes by 89 percent on average.

• Second Life, a Verra-certified ocean plastic recovery and recycling project which has recovered and recycled 2,389,000 kg of ocean-bound plastic in Thailand since 2020.

• Veolia Thailand’s LDPE recycling plant which converts locally sourced LDPE and LLDPE packaging waste into post-consumer recycled plastics, replacing fossil resources to produce films and bags.

• ReCircle, a resource recovery enterprise in India, that directs waste away from landfills and oceans through a traceable system to create resources that ultimately feed back into the circular economy.

PCX has already diverted more than 32 million kg of plastic waste from nature, invested over US$2.7 million into the plastic circular economy, and driven 54,000 tonnes of carbon reduc tion from coal replacement.

COUNTRIES ACROSS THE GLOBE AIM TO END PLASTIC POLLUTION BY 2040

The Governments of Rwanda and Norway have launched the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution together with Canada, Peru, Germany, Senegal, Georgia, Republic of Korea, U.K., Switzerland, Portugal, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Costa Rica, Iceland, Ecuador, France, and the Dominican Republic.

The High Ambition Coalition was first initiated following the UN Environment Assembly resolution 5/14 passed in March 2022 to start negotiations of an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution.

The High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution will issue statements and undertake intersessional work on essen tial elements and issues to inform the negotiations in order to develop a landmark treaty by 2024.

The first meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Com mittee is set to start on November 28, 2022, in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

Organizations approved for participation in the NexTrex pro gram can earn funding by serving as drop-off locations where community members can recycle their discarded plastic film packaging. Each grassroots partner is equipped with a baler, which is housed on-site for use in bundling and weighing recy cled plastic material. After 20 to 40 bales are compiled (20,000 to 40,000 pounds of recycled plastic film), Trex picks up and transports the material to its manufacturing facilities in Vir ginia or Nevada. Trex then provides a rebate to its partners for the baled recyclable films making it a viable source of ongoing funding for business operations or community initiatives.

EXPANDS PLASTIC FILM RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE

Trex Company’s recently launched NexTrex grassroots movement provides a turnkey framework for munici palities, universities, nonprofits, and other qualifying businesses to serve as centralized drop-off locations for recy cling polyethylene plastic film while earning funds for their organizations.

CIRCULAR PLASTIC TASKFORCE AND DIGIMARC TO PILOT FLEXIBLE PACKAGING SORTATION PROJECT

The Circular Plastic Taskforce (CPT) has partnered with Digimarc Corporation to test Digimarc Recycle for opti mizing the sortation of flexible plastic packaging in Can ada, a first in North America according to the CPT. This project marks the start of Phase II of the CPT, which aims to carry out or support projects to improve the recycling of all plastic pack aging within the evolving Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) landscape in Quebec and Canada.

With Digimarc Recycle, digital watermarks are applied with in the package artwork and are visible to specialized sorting equipment, but imperceptible to consumers. When scanned by machine cameras, the watermarks connect to a cloud-based database containing characteristics of the package, such as the manufacturer and specific product, prior use (food versus non-food), additives, or the presence of components that are problematic for recycling. As such, it can help facilitate flexible packaging sortation.

The first part of the project consists of testing the ability of specialized optical sorters to adequately capture flexible packaging with digital watermarks in a controlled environ ment. This test will be performed at the Pellenc ST R&D Center in Pertuis, France. Following the results of this initial test, the second part of the project, which is set to begin in 2023, will aim at testing this solution in a real-life environment and at a much larger scale.

The project also seeks to confirm the effectiveness of Digimarc Recycle to provide traceability of packaging. Traceability is a pre requisite to producing food-grade recycled resin and will be key to complying with upcoming regulations that will be implement ed to accelerate the transition to a circular economy for plastics.

MOVING TOWARD A CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOR BLACK PLASTICS WITH STADLER NIR TECHNOLOGY UPDATES

Plastic packaging serves important functions in modern life, but has a significant end-of-life problem. This is especially true of black plastic, which until very recently couldn’t be detected with the available near infrared (NIR) technology.

“The emitter shines a light on the material and the sen sor takes a reading of the energy that is reflected back,” says Enrico Siewert, director of product and market development at STADLER. “However, carbon black absorbs the light, so the signal doesn’t bounce back and the sensor doesn’t get a reading. This means that black plastic is undetectable with the technolo gy that is widely deployed in the recycling infrastructure.”

WHY RECOVERING BLACK PLASTICS MATTERS

Black plastic makes up a significant part of household waste which, if not recovered, will be incinerated or sent to a landfill. This not only has environmental implications, but also finan cial. Siewert explains, “If recycling companies can’t recover black plastics, they can be losing as much as 15 percent of the value of their inbound material. When they are able to mine this material out of the waste stream, they can create economic value and positively impact their bottom line.

“Another important consideration is that more and more packaging is made of black plastic as more recycled content is used. When recycling post-consumer packaging, if it’s not rigorously sorted by colour, the resulting output is a grey resin. This can’t be taken back to white, so many converters add car bon black to obtain a very uniform, more appealing colour. We, as a society, want more recycled content, and we will see more and more black material in the waste stream. Consequently, packaging will continue to trend toward a darker colour.”

A SORTING TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Different industries involved in the plastics value chain have been researching solutions to the black plastics issue, and today there are different ways of recovering these materials. The first solution is a sensor-based dry sorting system, which uses NIR sensors with detectable black additives to detect the different types of polymers. There are also other types of sen sors capable of sorting black materials by a polymer. With this sensor-based dry sorting system, it is possible to accurately sort black polyethylene, polypropylene, PET, and polystyrene.

Another solution is a wet density sorting system based on the flotation principle. The lighter polyethylene and polypropylene float, while the heavier PET, PVC, and polystyrene tend to sink. The drawback of this system is that, not only is it costly due to the filtration process, the need for water, cleaning, etc., it is not capa ble of sorting by polymer, so a circular process is impossible.

“The biggest advancement has been in sensor technology,” says Siewert. “The situation has evolved to the point that today we are able to separate black not only by colour, but also by polymer. This is very important because if the sorter ejects all black materials together, there could be as many as 15 different polymers in the mix, which can’t easily be remanufactured.”

NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONTRIBUTING TO A CIRCULAR ECONOMY

The ability to detect black plastics means that there will be more of them in the recycling chain.

“We have to create a demand for these post-consumer black materials,” says Siewert. “Obviously, there are limitations: they can’t be used to produce white products, and they can’t always make food-grade packaging. We have to collaborate across the industry value chain to find other ways to use black plastics. It won’t necessarily be for consumer-facing products, but they could be used to manufacture items such as pallets, buckets, or railroad ties, etc. It’s about sorting the plastic effectively and providing it as a feedstock to the advanced recycling sector.”

It is also important to extend this cross-industry collabora tion to packaging designers and producers. “We need a conver

sation between manufacturers and recyclers where they address together considerations such as: does the consumer really need or want black packaging? If the material can’t be recovered, what matters the most to the consumer? Do they want a closed loop solution for the package they buy, or do they care more about how it looks? Such an approach will help address the black plastic problem and get a better recovery of the waste stream,” says Siewert.

STADLER has experienced a sharp increase in the interest in these solutions. “We now have multiple partners that have devel oped technology to detect black plastics, so we have the ability to design systems to recover these materials tailored to our individ ual customers’ operational requirements and capital investment,” says Siewert. “We have completed several projects for some of the most advanced light packaging recycling plants in Europe, and we are working to develop many more. The demand is extremely strong for this technology, and I see this trend continuing in the future. More black plastic is going into the waste stream and the technology to mine these materials is catching up fast.”

DOW AND MURA TECHNOLOGY TO BUILD EUROPE’S LARGEST ADVANCED RECYCLING FACILITY

A s part of the next step in Dow and Mura Technology’s on going collaboration, Mura plans to construct a new facility at Dow’s Böhlen site in Germany, the latest in a series of planned facilities across the U.S. and Europe.

Mura’s new Böhlen facility, which is expected to be operational by 2025, would deliver approximately 120 kilotons per annum (KTA) of advanced recycling capacity at a full run rate. This and the other planned units expected to be constructed across Europe and the U.S. would collectively add as much as 600KTA of ad vanced recycling capacity by 2030.

The Böhlen site, expected to be co-located with Dow’s manufac turing facilities, would considerably increase the supply of fully circular feedstock to the industry. In addition, the co-location of Mura’s facilities at Dow locations would be expected to reduce car bon emissions by minimizing transportation of the offtake and as gas output from the advanced recycling process can be converted back to plastics, thereby ensuring no by-products go to waste.

Mura’s hydrothermal plastic recycling solution uses supercrit ical steam to convert most forms of plastics – including flexible and multi-layer plastics, which have previously been deemed as unrecyclable – back into the original oils and chemicals from which they were made.

A REGENERATIVE APPROACH TO WASTE MANAGEMENT

HOW EMTERRA GROUP IS STAYING AHEAD OF THE CURVE ON ALTERNATIVE GREEN FLEET TECHNOLOGIES

BY SLONE FOX, EDITOR

With over

in

Emterra Group, one of the largest resource management companies in Canada, has always been ahead of the times when it comes to tapping into emerging opportunities and building on them to create sustainable solutions. From establishing both British Columbia and Manitoba’s first sin gle-stream MRFs, to becoming an early adopter of compressed natural gas (CNG) collection trucks in Canada, it’s natural that the company would also be at the forefront of the shift to elec trification. As part of the next step toward its environmental and sustainability goals, Emterra has expanded its fleet with the purchase of Canada’s first Mack LR Electric collection truck.

“This aligns us with two of our core values, which are sustainability and community,” says Brad Muter, chief oper ations officer at Emterra Group. “We strive as a company to demonstrate environmental leadership in everything we do and strengthen the wellbeing of our communities through social, economic, and environmental contributions.”

A PIONEER IN RECYCLING AND WASTE DIVERSION

Over 45 years ago, Emterra Group founder and CEO Emmie Leung started collecting discarded cardboard and printed pa pers from the back alleyways of her Vancouver neighbourhood. Seeing value in a resource that was largely overlooked, Leung began packing the materials into the back of her van and sent it to paper mills to be reused.

In 1976, Leung founded International Paper Industries (IPI). Leung performed every job herself, from collecting and shipping materials, to bookkeeping and business develop

ment. As IPI expanded to include municipal recycling services, Leung introduced the first-ever blue bag program, and in 1995 launched operations in Ontario under the name of Halton Re cycling. By 2008, IPI and Halton Recycling combined to create a new division of Emterra Group: Emterra Environmental.

“This was back when recycling wasn’t really thought of that much by businesses and consumers alike. She had the concep tion back then to see value in materials, and the fact that a lot of it was going into the waste stream,” says Muter. “She took it upon herself to start collecting this stuff, delivering it, and get ting value for the material, which then really started the whole Emterra Group story.”

Fast forward to present day, and Emterra Group is celebrat ing its seventh consecutive year of being named one of Cana da’s Greenest Employers. From a company that started out as just one woman, Emterra Group now employs more than 1,100 employees that service over 40 locations across Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Michigan.

ALTERNATIVE-FUELLED COLLECTION VEHICLES

When it comes to operating collection vehicles that run on al ternative fuel sources, Emterra Group has taken a lead role. With over 500 vehicles in its fleet, approximately 40 percent operate on compressed natural gas. CNG collection trucks reduce green house gases by 20 percent and noise pollution by 90 percent, while also consuming less fuel than their diesel counterparts.

Back in 2012, Emterra Group opened its first CNG fuelling station for its fleet of over 60 collection trucks in Winnipeg. And

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TAURUS BRAVO PRE-SHREDDER

as you can imagine with the harsh Winnipeg weather, this fleet quickly became the largest fleet of CNG collection trucks in the world to operate in an extreme cold weather climate.

“It was a big test for us,” says Muter. “We were either going to be successful or we were going to fail, and when we had failures, we learned from them as quickly as possible so that we wouldn’t repeat them in future deployments of CNG sta tions and trucks. We discovered a lot back in 2012, and since then we’ve rolled out a number of CNG stations and fleets across Canada.”

Being an early adopter of CNG, it’s no surprise that the com

pany’s natural progression was to also embrace the industry’s shift toward electric collection vehicles. Earlier this year, Emterra Group purchased the first Mack LR Electric Class 8 refuse vehicle in Canada, also marking the first battery-electric vehicle in Em terra’s fleet.

“By purchasing and deploying one truck for our test, we need ed to go out there and really do a lot of research and work with vendors on the electric charging systems, which are more com plex than we initially thought,” says Muter. “We ended up getting a 50 kilowatt mobile charger, which is sufficient to operate one electric vehicle. In the future, if and when we increase the fleet

THIS? THAT?

of electric trucks, we will build out larger infrastructure.”

Emterra’s LR Electric will be equipped with an automated side-loader and will operate in residential areas within the Region of Peel in Ontario.

In 2019, Peel’s Regional Council de clared a climate emergency and imple mented a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent below 2010 levels by 2030. With these robust goals in mind, Emterra Group knew that Peel Region would be a like-minded partner for the project.

“I’m hopeful that someday we’ll be seeing municipalities going out and ac tually putting a requirement for electric vehicles into their request for proposal documents, so that when we go to bid on new contracts, not only us, but our competitors, will need to go electric to a certain percentage,” says Muter. “It may be a little premature to think about converting a whole fleet to electric,

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We were either going to be successful or we were going to fail, and when we had failures, we learned from them as quickly as possible so that we wouldn’t repeat them in future deployments of CNG stations and trucks.

Brad Muter Chief Operations Officer, Emterra

Seeing value in a resource that was largely overlooked, Emmie Leung created Emterra to give a new life to

but certainly they could one day put in a

for a percentage of electric versus CNG or

THE FUTURE OF CNG

With an electrified future on the horizon for the hauling and collection industry, it’s natural to wonder where CNG will fit in as new technologies emerge and others fall to the wayside.

“CNG, in the scope of things, is relatively new, but I think there’s going to be a lot of factors that will come into play. We’re just going to keep gathering information and adapt based on the success of this test, and we don’t know where we’ll go in the future. I think diesel someday will be a thing of the past with what they’re doing in terms of mandates on electric cars. I think trucks will follow those mandates, and someday we’ll see electric trucks everywhere, and that will be the norm,” says Muter. “How long that’s going to take, I can’t tell you right now, but hopefully our competitors get in the game because this is great for the environment, it’s great for our customers and the commu nity, and we want to see the whole industry eventually following our path and electrify ing their fleets.”

Muter cites Emterra Group’s ever-evolv ing nature over the last four decades as a promising indicator of what’s to come in the company’s future as it continues to take ad vantage of new innovations that help reduce the carbon footprint of its operations.

“I started my career in this industry about four decades ago, so I’ve been in this a long time. I think back to when I started, and how the equipment has evolved. It was fairly rudimentary at the time, and the changes that were made to equipment were typically to improve productivity on the street. How do we make the truck cycle faster? How do we make the equipment pick up bins faster?” says Muter. “I’m really excited to see a shift now after many decades in which produc tivity is still very important, but reducing your carbon footprint is equally, if not more, important right now with the increasing con cern around the climate change crisis.” RPN

customized options available!

Emterra was formed when founder and CEO Emmie Leung began collecting discarded cardboard and paper from the back alleyways of her neighbourhood.

WHAT ONTARIO’S NEW PROVINCE-WIDE BLUE BOX COLLECTION SYSTEM MEANS FOR CARTON RECYCLING

BY ISABELLE FAUCHER, CARTON COUNCIL OF CANADA

A major milestone was reached in the summer of 2022 when Ontario’s Blue Box recycling program trans formed into a fully producer-led model. Circular Materials together with RYSE Solutions, who are the two full-service producer responsibility organizations (PRO) acting on behalf of producers in Ontario, submitted a plan called the “Initial Report” that spells out how they propose to set up and manage the collection of Blue Box materials in communities across the province.

Up to now, municipalities were the ones responsible for setting up their own collection systems to bring recyclables from the residential sector and, in some cases, from other locations (e.g., public spaces, schools) to a material recovery facility (MRF) for them to be sorted, baled, and sent off to recyclers. According to the architects of the new plan, a com mon collection system, which will be administered by a single entity for the entire province, will start to replace the currently fragmented arrangement on July 1, 2023. A hybrid system will persist until Ontario completes its transition to a full extended producer responsibility model, which is scheduled to happen no later than January 1, 2026.

This common collection system, or CCS for short, will be administered as a non-profit enterprise by Circular Materials as its official administrator, together with a PRO operating committee comprised of the two PROs and individual produc ers who wish to join them. Producers who prefer to fulfill their recovery obligations on their own can in fact do so without subscribing to one of the PROs.

A day-to-day operator for the common collection system has already been selected. RLG Canada, the Canadian arm of inter national recycling and returns management specialists Reverse Logistics Group, will be involved in the start-up phase of the CCS.

A core component of the new system will be a network of re ceiving facilities spread out across the province. These are the places where the collected Blue Box material will be offloaded by collection vehicles before they get sorted. Importantly, all

these facilities will be situated no further than a 60-minute drive from the centres of the municipalities they serve. The process of selecting these facilities through a request for pro posals has already begun. It must be noted that single-stream collection (in which all recyclables are mixed together) and du al-stream collection (where fibres are collected separately from containers, including food and beverage cartons) will continue to cohabit under the new system.

System administrators will also be responsible for con tracting waste haulers across the province to collect the Blue Box materials and drive them to the receiving facilities. The RFP process for selecting these haulers is also underway and should be completed by next February. During the transition period, municipalities will have the option to continue provid ing collection services (either directly or through their service provider) if they so choose.

Each PRO will then regularly pick up from each receiving facil ity the share of materials their producers represent, as would the producers acting individually. This share, established by weight, would be determined by the proportion of paper, packaging, containers, and other recyclables that each producer puts on the market in Ontario. An outside accounting firm will ensure the accuracy of these calculations while preserving the confidenti ality of any sensitive commercial information. These materials will be taken to primary sorting and separation facilities located in Ontario for the most part, except possibly for those from northwestern Ontario which may be processed in Manitoba.

A common collection system, which will be administered by a single entity for the entire province, will start to replace the currently fragmented arrangement on July 1, 2023.

RETURN-IT ESTABLISHES PILOT PROGRAM PERMANENCY WITH THREE NEW CNG-ELECTRIC HYBRID COMPACTION TRUCKS

Return-It has expanded its compressed natural gas (CNG) electric hybrid compaction truck fleet with the addi tion of three new trucks to its dedicated transportation network – a move that drives the organization closer to the goal of decarbonizing various areas of operations. The three trucks, which will join an existing fleet, will lower greenhouse gas emissions from beverage container transportation by up to 25 percent while at the same time reducing the number of transport vehicles on the road.

In September 2020, Return-It and its partners launched a pilot program for specialized CNG-electric hybrid compaction trucks. Since that first truck hit the road, approximately 150 million plastic bottles have been compacted as of September 2022. With the success of the pilot program, Return-It is mak ing the program permanent and expanding the fleet to four CNG-electric hybrid trucks and three compaction trailers.

“Transportation contributes to 40 percent of British Colum bia’s overall GHG emissions and it is our goal province-wide to reduce these emissions by 40 percent by 2030,” says Rob Fleming, minister of transportation and infrastructure. “We are excited to see organizations like Return-It adopting new low-carbon technologies in CNG-electric hybrid vehicles for

their heavy-duty fleets. We need to work collectively toward transitioning toward zero-emission vehicles and welcome the benefits of this expansion.”

Supplied by Hyliion, the CNG-electric hybrid powertrains not only release fewer emissions than existing diesel trucks, but when combined with new and powerful compaction technology, they also help reduce the number of vehicle trips required to take beverage containers from recycling depots to processing fa cilities. Adding the three CNG-electric hybrid compaction trucks reduces the number of kilometres travelled by 84,000 annually.

With the new trucks, service collection will gradually in crease from 17 to 48 recycling depots throughout British Colum bia’s Lower Mainland, with the goal of expanding across more communities province-wide.

METAL SHREDDERS EFFICIENT SIZE REDUCTION FOR SCRAP

1capable of processing 500 to 60,000 tons per month. WENDT HEAVY hammermill shredders are designed to offer reduced energy con sumption while producing clean, high-density scrap at optimum tonnages as well as the lowest cost per ton. Up to 50 percent heavier than other shredders and made with thicker steel, WENDT HEAVY shredders are designed to be reliable and easily service able. Heavy plate construc tion, reinforcing gussets, and interlocking fabrication enhance durability while high production levels and low wear part consumption increases efficiency. An ad vanced geometry design also allows for full box shredding, increased throughput, and greater product density.

2can process up to 3,000 tons per month and is an ideal option for those that want to add versatility beyond their existing collection site or for facilities that may be seeking to expand existing scrap mill ing operations. Driven by an 1,125-hp CAT32 diesel engine, the Bravo 6280 can produce 15 to 20 tph in ferrous output capacity (13.7 m tons/hour) with 240-pound hammers on a 315,000-pound single chas sis that is 80 inches wide and equipped with a 19-foot feed chute. According to the com pany, the machine’s operating cost is less than $25 per ton.

3signed to process met als such as ferrous scrap, cars, sheet metal, and baled scrap metal. The shredder features four motor settings (two per shaft), while the interchange able steel blade system and sturdy frame reduce mainte nance time. The low rpm gen erates high torque to process difficult materials. Forrec’s FX series of shredders come in versions 5000 and 8000, which are capable of processing packed car bodies or entire cars, and feature a throughput of 20 to 40 tph. Other features include a dual-shaft system with independent engines and reducers, configurable automatic gear reversal, and configurable blades.

ZATO BLUE SHARK FP SERIES

4Zato’s FP series of Blue Shark hammermill shredders provides an integrated solution by combining the hammer mill shredder with the Blue Devil GF Series pre-shredder, allowing for faster shredding, higher efficiency, enhanced output, and higher production rates, while protecting the hammermill itself. The shred ding chamber is equipped with a remote controlled hy draulically operated ejection door designed to withstand unshreddable material which may be inadvertently fed into the shredder. Other features include a hydraulic pushing feeder system, which allows for an automatic controlled feeding of the hammermill, and three different types of high-inertia, long-life rotors to meet different shredding requirements.

OPTIMIZING OPTICAL SORTERS IN MRFS

HOW TO MITIGATE PERFORMANCE CHALLENGES AND MAXIMIZE UPTIME AND PRODUCTIVITY

With increasing age and hours of operation, the performance of optical sorters can start declining. General lack of cleaning and maintenance as well as an ever-changing input material composition can further exacerbate those performance challenges.

During the early days of start-up, commissioning, and the break-in period, new optical sorters operate at their respective peak performances. The challenge for operators is to keep them sorting at those levels consistently day in and day out without any long-term deterioration or fluctuations over the course of the day, or even different seasons.

The tasks outlined in this article apply to both older (5 to 15 years) and newer optical sorters (less than 5 years old). They apply to optical sorters in all MRF applications, whether they are sorting plastics by resin and colour, positively or negatively sorting newspaper and mixed paper grades, or “last chance” recovery units on the residue line.

ROUTINE MAINTENANCE TASKS

Keeping all relevant areas of the optical sorter clean and mechanically maintained will have the biggest impact on uptime and performance. This includes monitoring and, if required, ad justing the tracking of the high-speed acceleration belt, its bear ings and areas around and below the return idlers, tail, and head pulleys. The splitter roller inside the catcher hood as well as the air valve/nozzle assembly are spots where materials can build up over time as well. Keeping those areas clean and easily accessi ble to maintenance personnel will reduce the risk of jams.

The halogen lamps that illuminate the sensing zone have a limited lifetime and will have to be replaced eventually. On older machines, monitoring the light intensity may have to be done manually. While some optical sorters available in the marketplace will keep sorting when halogen bulbs have burned out, they will do so at reduced efficiency.

The air ejections will generate mist and liquid splatter that will over time settle on the glass surfaces that cover the halogen light assemblies as well as the sensor itself, especially during rainy and snowy weather. Keeping those surfaces clean and as transparent as possible will make sure the maximum amount of light reaches the NIR/colour spectrometer(s).

In the summertime, air conditioning units keep the sensor housing as well as the operator touchscreen control panel from overheating. The dust filters for those units need to be checked, cleaned or possibly replaced on a regular basis. Extended expo sure to high temperatures is a sure way to shorten the lifetime of the internal electronics.

One of the most important aspects to increase the longevity of optical sorters is to provide ultra clean compressed air, free of moisture, oil, and dust. The air quality coming from the com pressor needs to be monitored on a regular basis, otherwise the internal valve mechanisms could fail, causing them to either get permanently stuck open or closed.

Testing the functionality of each air valve on a regular basis is crucial to ensure optimum sorting performance. An 80-inchwide single-eject MRF optical sorter normally utilizes 80 valves. If just four valves are not functional, it would mean that 5 percent of the machine width is not performing at all, which in turn will cause a drop in recovery of the targeted commodities.

The newest optical sorters provide significantly higher recovery rates and are able to generate much cleaner products compared to units that are older than even just 5 years.

SOFTWARE MONITORING FEATURES

Basic monitoring of the sensor performance and status of internal optical and electronic components is becoming more and more automated and self-reported (optional push notifi cations) to make it easier for the operator to monitor what is happening in real time on each optical sorter in the facility, as well as what/if any actions should be taken.

For example, while older units needed to be manually cali brated on a regular, sometimes weekly, basis the latest gener ation technology is able to virtually eliminate this task using internal calibration routines and algorithms that are able to compensate for changes in the immediate environment of the machine, mostly temperature, over the course of a day.

The amount of operational data, material composition, and other characteristics that are generated especially by the latest generation optical sorters can sometimes be overwhelming.

Advanced statistics and data analyses tools are now readily available to monitor the performance parameters. Integrating this data generated by optical sorters throughout the MRF into the main PLC/SCADA system allows for monitoring groups of ma chines and adjusting mechanical separation equipment as well as the optical sorters themselves. This would also include data from other sensors installed throughout the plant, for instance convey or speeds, disc screen angles, vacuum system air speeds, etc.

Like any computer systems, optical sorter libraries, databas es, and parameter settings should be backed up properly on a regular basis and in accordance with customer internal IT poli cies after any set-up changes have been made by the operator.

Keeping all relevant areas of the optical sorter clean and mechanically maintained will have the biggest impact on uptime and performance.

SORTING & SEPARATION

If required, all these described tasks can be outsourced to the optical sorter vendor to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. Nowadays, remote access and support via wireless or Ethernet connection makes this easy and affordable.

ADJUSTING SENSOR SETTINGS TO FIT EVER-EVOLVING MATERIAL STREAMS

The only thing staying constant is the ever-changing com position of incoming material streams as well as the introduc tion of completely new materials and packaging solutions like flexible plastics packaging. With a declining volume of news paper and higher percentage of cardboard, the optical sorters that control the quality of the generated fibre streams from the upstream container/paper separation equipment may have to be constantly monitored and adjusted.

On the container side, the recent increase of fully sleeved bottles, featuring a wide variety of label resins, have made it necessary to adjust the plastic optical sorters accordingly. The reference library containing all the different material and colour categories should be kept updated on a regular basis in order to maximize recovery of all plastic containers in general and PET in particular.

On older units, sometimes the only way to perform this work was by a trained technician on site. The newer generation op tical sorters can be remotely accessed by factory-trained staff, and reference library and parameter settings can be updated much more easily and faster requiring only minimum support by the on-site operations and maintenance staff.

FULL RETROFIT TO THE LATEST OPTICAL SORTERS

The newest optical sorters provide significantly higher re covery rates and are able to generate much cleaner products compared to units that are older than even just 5 years.

Sometimes, the above described monitoring and mainte nance functions are simply not sufficient to either recreate the performance from when they were originally started up or provide an improved performance that is necessary in today’s marketplace.

One recent trend is replacing such older units with a “sensor only” package that includes the newest technology. Such a solution can be executed at a significantly lower cost com pared to replacing the whole unit including the high-speed acceleration conveyor.

Of course, such complete retrofits only make sense if the added value generated by a better performance and possible manual labour savings provides an adequate payback.

Logistical challenges can arise if an existing optical sorter is installed in a way that makes access difficult for lifting/moving equipment. In a more complex scenario, it’s very much possi ble that the higher cost of mechanical installation and addi tional downtime caused by the added complexity may make a project prohibitively expensive.

Using the above guidelines should assist MRF operators to get their optical sorters back up to speed and ensure that they will last and perform at peak levels for a long time to come.

Prevent your process from coming

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ALUTRADE RECOVERS 99 PERCENT PURE ALUMINUM WITH TOMRA X-TRACT

ALUTRADE IS THE FIRST IN THE WORLD TO BENEFIT FROM THE NEW SORTING SOLUTION

Alutrade, the U.K.’s largest independent aluminum recycling company and extrusion specialist, is the first company in the world to utilize X-TRACT, the new sensor-based sorting solution from TOMRA Recycling Sorting. The X-TRACT has enabled Alutrade to achieve 99 percent pure aluminum for use in secondary aluminum production.

The new X-TRACT unit was installed in March 2021 at Alu trade’s Oldbury recycling plant in Birmingham, U.K., which processes 42,000 tons of waste annually. The plant’s infeed material comprises metal extrusions from different types of post-consumer construction waste, such as windows and doors, as well as aluminum cans.

A COMBINATION OF MECHANICAL AND SENSOR-BASED SORTING

When the infeed material arrives at Alutrade’s Oldbury plant, it is initially pre-shredded into smaller pieces of around 3.3 to 6.5 feet (1 to 2 m) in length before being further shred ded by a hammermill. Magnets and eddy current separators are then used to separate the metals into ferrous and non-fer rous, removing any contaminants in preparation for the next sorting stage.

Following magnetic separation, a combination of TOM RA sensor-based sorting units is used to process, sort, and recover the target fraction of aluminum. Two of the earlier edition TOMRA X-TRACT units – which were installed in 2017 and 2018 respectively – are programmed to capture a larger aluminum fraction of >1.2 inch (>30mm), and the new machine targets a smaller 0.4- to 1.2-inch (10 to 30mm) aluminum fraction, removing any heavy metal content from the aluminum. Both the earlier and new edition X-TRACT units sort metals based on the difference in atomic density, separating out any heavy metals.

AN INDUSTRY DEMAND FOR PREMIUM RECYCLED ALUMINUM

Alutrade’s customers are remelts based all over the world who require the highest purity grade of aluminum product for their remelting process as any heavy metal content affects the melt specifications.

Andrew Powell, director at Alutrade, explains: “Over the past five years, we have worked closely with TOMRA and our main customer and have undertaken a lot of research to achieve this milestone of recovering an aluminum end frac tion that meets the exceptionally high purity levels required to go straight into the remelt process. The smaller 10- to 30-mm (0.4- to 1.2-inch) grain size captured by the new machine is 99 percent pure aluminum which means we can sell it at a much higher price to our customers for use in the production of new aluminum products. What’s more, the new version of X-TRACT has opened up new international market opportunities for Alutrade as we can now source dif ferent infeed material, as well as sell on the ejected heavy metal products.”

Although the two earlier edition TOMRA X-TRACT units at the Oldbury plant allowed Alutrade to capture the >1.2 inch (>30mm) aluminum fraction, there were some restrictions on smaller fractions. Due to a new X-ray sensor design, the X-TRACT can separate fractions down to 0.2 inches (5 mm) at even higher purity levels.

TOMRA’s new X-TRACT uses the same process of separat ing metals by atomic density as the earlier edition but offers enhanced X-ray capabilities. The software-based solution can guarantee premium remelt quality recycled aluminum by ejecting the heavy metal contaminants.

The new-generation X-TRACT unit features a number of new features, including faster sorting up to 12.5 feet/sec (3.8 m/sec) and an increased capacity per metre width. A new high-resolution XRT sensor ensures sharper detection and

Over the past five years, we have worked closely with TOMRA and our main customer and have undertaken a lot of research to achieve this milestone of recovering an aluminum end fraction that meets the exceptionally high purity levels required to go straight into the remelt process.

Andrew Powell Director, Alutrade

shorter integration times for higher throughput, while a high-power (up to 1,000w) X-ray source is capable of pro cessing multiple applications and grain sizes. An extended separation chamber reduces material loss by improving the trajectory of sorted objects and a new catcher hood ensures safer access and faster maintenance.

Alutrade’s X-TRACT unit is also connected to TOMRA In sight, TOMRA’s nearly real-time, cloud-based data monitor ing platform. The platform enables customers to turn their sorters into connected devices and to transform sorting from an operational process into a strategic management tool that helps to maximize plant throughput, boost sorting performance, and optimize output quality.

“Investing in the new X-TRACT has enabled us to close the loop on the recycling process as much as possible, converting aluminum back into aluminum for use in high-grade aluminum products so that, in effect, a window frame can be recycled into a new window frame,” says Powell.

Terence Keyworth, TOMRA’s segment manager of metal recycling for North/East Europe, adds: “TOMRA and Al utrade have worked together for more than ten years, so Alutrade’s Oldbury plant was an ideal plant for us to test and prove the capabilities of our new X-TRACT. As the first prototype of this unit in an industrialized environment, it has been a very exciting project. We’re delighted that Alu trade has been so impressed with the sorting capabilities of this new technology and look forward to rolling out further installations over the coming months.”

As the first prototype of this unit in an industrialized environment, it has been a very exciting project.

Terence Keyworth Segment Manager of Metal Recycling for North/East Europe, TOMRA Sorting

The new X-TRACT can separate fractions down to 0.2 inches (5 mm) at high purity levels.

SEGMENTED TIRES SHORTEN SKID-STEER LOADER DOWNTIME AT SCRAPYARDS

BY ARTURO SANTIAGO, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

A catastrophic tire failure can easily occur when running equipment in a transfer sta tion or scrapyard where the equipment’s tires are exposed to extreme abrasion hazards such as broken concrete or jagged metal. This could result in hours or more of extended downtime as the tire is changed or repaired.

Evolution Wheel’s innovative solid tires for skid steers can dramatically reduce that downtime. The unique design of its tires features rubber segments that are bolted onto the rims. If one of those segments becomes damaged, it can quickly be swapped out with a new segment.

A TIRE THAT COMES TOGETHER IN SEGMENTS

It takes four nuts to bolt one segment onto the rim of the tire. This means that if a single section is damaged, the operator can easily remove that segment and replace it with a new one using only a wrench. The prolonged down time of taking the machine out of action, moving it to a maintenance area, and re placing the tire is eliminated.

Evolution Wheel Sales and Marketing Manager Marcus Leite says that this is where the main value proposition lies, “An operator with basic tools can swap out that segment in five minutes and the machine

doesn’t even have to leave the location. It doesn’t need to be towed anywhere. A pickup truck could roll in with that seg ment, zip it off, zip it on, and you’re back off to the races.”

CORE GEOMETRY IN THE RUBBER

The rubber of an Evolution Wheel tire can compress and flex not only because of the geometric apertures, but also its rubber compound. The shapes of the apertures are the result of extensive engineering, testing, and research and de velopment – as is the chemistry of the rubber. For each prod uct, Evolution Wheel searches for the proper abrasion and flexibility. Once they are found

and completely tested, a fullscale production tire is made.

WITH TREAD DEPTH COMES PERFORMANCE

Evolution Wheel tires have more tread depth than any oth er manufacturer, according to Leite. This is a design feature that improves the traction of a machine. He says, “It’s going to act like a paddle in what we call two-stage traction. That first bit of traction is really loading up the tire and as that tire loads up, the core geome try will twist and as that tire ro tates, it’ll just push you through which is why our AT Series for skid steers is very popular.”

Value is also found in a deeper tread as the thicker rubber lasts longer. “So that tire is just going to last three times that of a premium pneu matic, while our HS Series will last three to five times longer depending on how abrasive the environment is.”

STEEL RIMS ACT AS A BALLAST

The tires made by Evolution Wheel are much heavier than traditional pneumatic tires. When mounted on a piece of equipment the additional weight becomes an advantage. The most optimal place to add ballast is at a point closest to

Evolution Wheel’s segmented design allows for quick repairs.

Evolution Wheel’s EWRS-HS Series tire.

An operator with basic tools can swap out that segment in five minutes and the machine doesn’t even have to leave the location.

Marcus Leite Sales and Marketing Manager, Evolution Wheel

the ground. With tires acting as extra weight, operators can achieve better lifting perfor mance and machine operation is more predictable.

LOW MAINTENANCE TO NO MAINTENANCE

Engineers at Evolution Wheel have worked to create maintenance-free tires. There is a break-in period of the solid tires of about 30 hours of use until they reach their full flexibility and responsiveness (they can be used in normal operations with no restrictions during the break-in period). The geometric apertures need to be cleaned of dirt and de bris, but the system is essen tially free of maintenance. The tires do not even need to be rotated. Even so, retread kits are available, and emphasis is placed on serviceability. The heavy-duty rims are designed

to be used for multiple life cycles of the rubber. Servicing is simply a matter of unbolting old segments and replacing them with new segments.

MORE PRODUCTS FOR MORE MACHINES

The company also recogniz es that there are a number of different categories of equip ment for which an Evolution Wheel tire concept could be applied and it is working to develop those products, such as a tire for backhoe loaders. Leite says, “We think that we’re doing something different around here when it comes to tires, having the abil ity to service tires in the field and at the same time get that much more life out of it. That’s what we do here. That’s our value proposition. It’s a great product because it’s simple and it works.” RPN

TAKING

THE

“CONEXPO-CON/AGG SHOWS US THE FUTURE OF OUR INDUSTRY, WITH INNOVATION, EQUIPMENT AND IDEAS YOU CAN’T FIND ANYWHERE ELSE.”

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ASSOCIATION UPDATE NEW SWANA REPORT REVIEWS ALTERNATIVE FUELS FOR RECYCLING AND COLLECTION VEHICLES

THE SOLID WASTE ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA

Anew report from the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) Applied Research Foundation (ARF) aims to provide solid waste, recycling, and sustain ability managers with information and guidance on the use of electricity and other alternative fuels for refuse and recycling collection vehicles.

The publication analyzes electricity, hydrogen fuel cells, compressed and renewable natural gas, and ultra-low sulfur and renewable diesel in terms of their energy usage, well-towheel greenhouse emissions, fuel cost, total cost, and stage of commercialization.

The analyses presented in the report indicate that the use of electricity as a fuel for refuse and recycling trucks offers many benefits including reduced noise and air pollution in the neigh bourhoods served.

Electric refuse trucks emit less than half of the carbon dioxide emissions of other alternative fuels even when the electricity is generated by the current mix of fossil fuel and renewable power generators in the United States.

From an economic standpoint, electricity is by far the lowest cost fuel at $0.66 per mile, which is estimated to be about half of the costs of diesel on a fuel cost per mile basis. Electric refuse trucks also use less energy than the other alternative-fu elled trucks.

Perhaps most importantly, electric refuse trucks emit less than half of the carbon dioxide emissions of other alternative fuels even when the electricity is generated by the current mix of fos sil fuel and renewable power generators in the United States.

Finally, electric refuse trucks were found to have the lowest total cost per mile of the alternative fuel options analyzed.

Major drawbacks to switching to electricity at the current

time are the high up front capital costs of electric refuse trucks and the relative lack of experience in North America with elec tric refuse trucks in real-world service environments over the lifespan of the truck (typically considered to be about 10 years). Simply put, electric refuse trucks are still in the demonstration stage of their commercialization journey.

For this reason, SWANA recommends fleet managers con sider holding off on committing the transition of their fleets to electric refuse trucks until performance and cost data from the 50 to 100 or so current demonstration projects can be compiled and analyzed.

Either way, electric vehicles will impact the future of the solid waste industry. Similar to electric refuse trucks, hydrogen fuel cell refuse trucks offer the potential for a zero-tailpipe emissions alternative that has regenerative braking capability and operates at low noise levels. Unlike electric trucks, hydro gen fuel cells offer driving ranges similar to diesel trucks before refuelling is required.

Demonstration projects for hydrogen fuel cell refuse vehicles are occurring in a number of European countries; however, none are being conducted in the United States at this time. For this reason, the use of hydrogen fuel cells to power refuse trucks can be considered as being slightly behind electric re fuse trucks with regard to its demonstration status.

While electric and hydrogen fuel cell trucks are progressing through the demonstration stage of commercialization, collec tion fleet managers should continue to use diesel and com pressed natural gas (CNG) refuse trucks to power their fleets, but should pursue the replacement of these fuels with their renew able versions (renewable diesel or renewable CNG) when they become price-competitive with their fossil fuel counterparts.

Finally, as solid waste management professionals, collec tion fleet managers should consider their unique position of being able to generate both electricity and CNG from solid waste they collect. For this reason, recovery of electricity from waste-to-energy facilities and the generation of electricity and/ or CNG from anaerobic digestion facilities and landfills should be investigated and pursued if found feasible from a technical, economic, political, and societal perspective.

THE SOLID WASTE ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA is an organization committed to advancing solid waste management.

A LONG WAY TOGETHER

WHEREVER YOU ARE, BKT IS WITH YOU

No matter how challenging your needs, BKT is with you offering an extensive product portfolio for every field such as agriculture, OTR and industrial applications.

BKT provides concrete, reliable and high-quality solutions to your requests and working needs. Wherever you are, BKT is with you.

DEPLOYMENT

The new model 4 E-Z log Baler is just what mid size scrap yards have been asking for! Priced right for any yard — small, mid size, or large!

Like the Model 3, the NEW Model 4 has no set up time and a very low cost to operate. The one man operations are all handled from the newly designed cab. With the 400º rotation crane and a reach of 27’ adding the continuous rotation grapple, it makes loading the larger chamber a breeze. Taking your loose scrap to a highly sought after shreddable log.

With the lowest minimum quantity requirement in industry for ceramic, foil, DPF and aftermarket converters, we assist scrap metal recyclers, automotive recyclers, and core buyers in getting the best potential value for all material types.

PMR’s state of the art PGM laboratory provides suppliers with the most accurate and precise precious metal returns 6x faster than competitors, allowing businesses to react quickly to market changes with detailed and transparent results; diminishing the risks associated with a naturally volatile market.

Through multiple and exclusive data insight tools, such as an online database that assigns converter count and value to vehicle VIN number, PMR helps businesses be more aggressive in obtaining market share while elevating their competitive edge.

PMR focusses on providing attentive and consultative support to each recycler looking to not only maintain but gain in the years to come.

Working with PMR means working with a company that adapts to your needs.

Catalytic Converter Recycling

PMR is an industry leading expert in the recovery of Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium from scrap catalytic converters.

SHREDDER