New features of the upgrade include a triple-deck Mach OCC screen with a fines screen underneath to remove the system fines early in the process.
Machinex, Plessisville, Quebec, has announced the launch of an upgraded a single-stream municipal recycling facility of West County Resource Recovery, located in Richmond, California. This project is the result of cooperation between Machinex and its client, Republic Services, Phoenix, to modernize the existing facility for additional sorting capacity.
Machinex says it was chosen for this upgrade thanks to its capacity to provide and deliver a turnkey solution that increases tonnage while having the same number of sorters.
The company says this design was specifically designed to face the challenges of the existing building while upgrading the system. Before the upgrade, the customer was running about 15 tons per hour and some of the older equipment was no longer working.
Machinex was asked to increase processing capability without adding to the current sorter count and to eliminate rubber disc screens. Design challenges included working with the existing infeed pit along with putting together a design that utilized the existing baler and storage bunker setup.
“We needed two ballistics to achieve the processing capacity goals set forth by the client,” says Rusty Angel, a regional sales manager for Machinex. “We utilized their existing drum feeder for the system infeed and also reused many of the existing bunkers at the front end of the system such as the presort bunkers and commodity bunkers since those were all live bottom bunkers and already in place. We did have to add one new walking floor bunker for the ferrous metals as they did not have enough bunkers to accommodate all of the recovered materials.”
Features of the facility's new system include a triple-deck Mach OCC screen with a fines screen underneath to remove the system fines early in the process. The new OCC screen features improved disc spacing and larger shafts to reduce daily cleaning. Two Mach ballistic separators were installed to handle the primary and secondary 2D/3D separation, which helps to reduce downtime and overall maintenance costs.
This upgrade required some additional automation to meet this challenge. A Mach Hyspec dual-eject optical sorter has been incorporated to remove polyethylene terephthalate and high-density polyethylene at the start of the container line. A new magnet and eddy current separator was also installed for ferrous and nonferrous recovery.
The company says the features of this system make it reliable, efficient and flexible, with a limited footprint. The new MRF will be able to process more recyclables with the capacity to sort 22 to 24 tons per hour.
Machinex worked alongside Republic to bring its expertise with creative design for retrofits. Requirements for the project were to select a partner that would be able to guide them through this major system upgrade, along with providing them a maintenance-friendly system that could increase the recovery of recyclable material.
The report covers CECO’s sustainability efforts and key milestones.
CECO Environmental Corp., based in Cincinnati, has published its environmental, social and governance (ESG) report. The report looks at the company’s sustainability impact and how it has helped its customers meet or exceed environmental regulations. Sustainability efforts from 2018 to 2020 and key milestones in 2021 are featured.
The report covers topics such as energy consumption and management, waste management and reductions and greenhouse gas emissions.
CECO’s Indianapolis manufacturing facility saw a drastic decrease in energy usage compared with three other U.S. facilities. The Indianapolis facility had an energy reduction of 132,000 kilowatt-hours, which CECO attributes to the conversion to LED lights, investing in efficient machine centers and improving manufacturing throughput.
The company’s Columbia, Tennessee, facility experienced a smaller decrease of at least 6 percent between 2018 and 2020. However, CECO’s Telford, Pennsylvania, and Greensboro, North Carolina, facilities both had increased energy usage from 2018.
Regarding office waste, the report says CECO has invested in recycling programs for papers, toners and other office supplies. In 2020, the company recycled 28,077 pounds of paper from their four U.S. manufacturing facilities. Their plan, according to the report, is to go 15 percent paperless in 2023. Water filtration systems have also been installed, diverting approximately 12,230 plastic bottles annually from landfills and the environment, according to the report.
The report also says that CECO repurposes and reuses scrap metal and recycles resin, fiberglass, nylon, cardboard, wood, plastics and acetone. From 2018 to 2020, the company says it recovered and reused 11,800 pounds of acetone, recycling it at a rate of about 80 percent.
Overall, the amount of recycled material at their U.S. facilities has decreased from 521.9 tons in 2019 to 472.2 tons in 2020. The 2020 rate, though, turned out higher than the 2018 rate of 346.3 tons.
At the company’s Mefiag facility in the Netherlands, scrap propylene waste resulting from manufacturing operations is sold to a third party.
To address greenhouse gas emissions, CECO has started converting diesel trucks with compressed natural gas alternatives and replaced two company fleet vehicles at their Netherlands office with full-electric and hybrid alternatives.
For more information about CECO's efforts around ESG, click here.
The changes include extending the time it takes for manufacturers and companies to adhere to the new standards and amending the classification of sharps disposal containers.
The Healthcare Waste Institute (HWI) of the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Arlington, Virginia, has voiced its support for a new proposal on medical devices by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The proposal would amend the agency’s device quality requirements to align closer with the international consensus standard for medical device manufacturers, ISO 13485:2016.
“HWI agrees with the FDA that it will be beneficial to harmonize the current quality management system requirements,” says Darrell Smith, NWRA president and CEO Darrell Smith. “We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the proposed rule.”
However, both organizations have proposed changes to the rule. The changes include extending the time it takes for manufacturers and companies to adhere to the new standards.
HWI says it believes it will take small domestic companies longer than one year to comply with the new standards as they are unfamiliar with them. Instead, HWI recommends that the final rule should be effective two years after publication.
The organizations are also advocating for a class change on sharps disposal containers. The two say there are no regulatory standards for sharps disposal containers in the current federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The organizations added that the standards are not included in ISO 13485 either because the European Union does not consider sharps disposal containers to be medical devices. The two organizations suggest removing any requirements that would subject sharps disposal containers to the amended Part 820 regulations.
The two say if the FDA decides to maintain sharps disposal containers as medical devices, it should reclassify them from Class II to Class I. This is because of their relatively low risk of transmitting infection.
The company says the projects will reduce carbon emissions while providing clean and reliable heat and power.
Capstone Green Energy Corp. a carbon reduction and on-site green energy solutions company based in Van Nuys, California, has announced orders for two waste-to-energy projects in the Sardinia region of Italy.
Capstone says three C65 microturbines will be deployed at two wastewater treatment facilities operated by Acciona Agua SA, a renewable energy company based in Alcobendas, Spain. The microturbines will be installed at Acciona’s facilities in Alghero and Cagliari, Italy. The microturbine systems are expected to be commissioned in December.
“We are pleased to see continued order flow out of the European region given the unprecedented macroeconomic conditions in their energy markets,” says Darren Jamison, CEO of Capstone Green Energy. “This is a perfect example of how customers are reducing their dependence on fossil fuel sources for power generation through sustainable biogas to energy projects.”
Once commissioned, the microturbines will operate on the biogas produced on-site from municipal solid waste. Additionally, the new cogeneration plants will incorporate a customized heat recovery module, advanced gas treatment, compressors and SCADA control panels. The company says the configuration will allow plant operators to harness the waste fuel for on-site power production.
The microturbines will be utilized in a combined heat and power (CHP) application and produce electricity and hot water for the customer’s wastewater treatment facilities. The projects are the first of their kind in the Sardinia region of Italy.
Capstone says wastewater treatment plants are excellent candidates for microturbine-based CHP. The most common renewable projects use digester methane to generate electric power or combined heat and power. These installations can bring fast payback from utility power and natural gas savings by utilizing waste methane, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide. In addition, excess renewable electricity could be offered for sale to the electric utility.
The new agreement will expand onboard computers and fleet automation software across Casella’s fleet.
Routeware Inc., a waste technology solutions provider based in Portland, Oregon, has reached an enterprise agreement with Casella Waste Systems Inc., Rutland, Vermont. Routeware will equip Casella’s collection fleet with tools to enhance efficiency, safety and customer service.
“We are very happy with the tools and efficiencies Routeware has provided to our teams in Vermont, New York and Maine and we’re excited to expand this technology across our footprint as we embark upon this new chapter in our partnership,” says John W. Casella, chairperson and CEO of Casella Waste Systems Inc.
According to a news release from Routeware, the new agreement will expand its onboard computers and fleet automation software across Casella’s fleet. This will give drivers and office staff easy-to-use tools and data to help them work safely and efficiently.
“We’re excited to grow our relationship with Casella as they continue to improve operations, better serve their customers, and reach their sustainability goals,” Routeware CEO Tom Malone says.
The agreement builds upon the existing relationship between the two parties. Casella partnered with Routeware in 2020 to serve its operations in Vermont, then expanded its use of the technology in 2021 in Rochester, New York and Hermon, Maine. Casella also uses Routeware’s route optimization solution, EasyRoute.