The upcoming facility will feature education and R&D centers to promote visibility into the recycling process and encourage community participation.

When Rumpke Waste & Recycling announced plans to construct a $50 million material recovery facility (MRF) in Columbus, Ohio, much attention was paid to the advanced technology that would be incorporated into the MRF with Rumpke officials calling the MRF the “most technologically advanced recycling center in the United States.”

The Cincinnati-based MRF operator has designed the Columbus facility to account for the evolving recycling stream, with technology to address as many commodities as possible. But just as important as the recovery of recyclables were the company’s community partnerships.

Rumpke Director of Recycling Jeff Snyder says that in developing the Columbus facility, called the Rumpke Resource Recycling Center, the company wanted to focus on environmental and sustainability initiatives as well as education—not just for consumers but also for those seeking careers in the recycling industry or those currently studying its impact.

He describes Rumpke’s efforts in Columbus as a three-phase approach, noting partnerships with neighborhood organizations, The Ohio State University (OSU) and COSI (Center of Science and Industry)—an interactive science center that opened in 1964 to offer educational resources and hands-on learning to people of all ages.

The first phase involves the creation of a research and development (R&D) center in collaboration with OSU, allowing students and faculty to have a space inside the MRF to work on-site and undertake R&D, engineering, sustainability and green economy projects, among others.

As the facility has progressed, Snyder has met with officials from OSU’s Sustainability Institute—a collaboration between academic and operations units across the university that aims to establish OSU as a leader in sustainability research and applications—to determine the direction of the partnership.

“It could be anything from communications to how brands can make products that can be more highly recyclable. We can provide space for capstone projects,” he says. “Ohio State has a huge engineering department and robotics department, [and] we have robotics today, so how can we incorporate artificial intelligence [with] what Ohio State knows? And [how can we] incorporate that into current manufacturing or sorting of recyclables? How can we get better at sorting that what we are today?”

Snyder adds that Rumpke felt it was “critically important” to partner with OSU in the development of the Columbus MRF and to usethe research being done in its own neighborhood.

In continuing with its commitment to education, Rumpke also is developing a recycling resource center with a focus on career development. Snyder saysthe center will offer job training for various environmental careers and internships and other training opportunities.

“Maybe they want to be in the material recovery field [or] be a CDL [commercial driver's license] driver. … Maybe they want to understand recycling end users more [or] how products get made back into new products,” he says. “It could be material marketing and getting research and development. All those things I think are all part of that development education center.”

RELATED: A facility for the future

Finally, Rumpke is partnering with COSI to create a 2,500-square-foot education and outreach center on-site that will give people the opportunity to learn what happens to material “from the time they put a recycling item in the bin to the time it’s made back into a new product [and] what happens in between,” Snyder says.

He adds, “To be able to walk through this education center and be able to understand how the equipment works, how an eddy current works, how a ballistic separator works, how a magnet works, how an optical scanner works … to understand that and then also understand end markets … that’s the education center. It’s not just coming in and saying, ‘You know, recycling is great.’ It really gets down into the nitty-gritty of what the process is, which is critically important to me and to Rumpke.”

Not specific to any program will be MRF tours in which people can come to the facility any time during business hours and walk on a platform around the building, starting at the beginning where material arrives and following it through the operation to when it gets baled and is ready to be put on a truck. “To be able to see that entire process from start to finish and be able to walk the entire facility … is pretty special,” Snyder says.

He promises a lot of work is going into Rumpke’s Columbus education center “to do this right,” adding that the company wanted to ensure this facility stands out as a way to help people understand the recycling process.

“I still get asked, probably weekly, ‘You guys don’t really recycle [the material], do you?’ … A select few people really know what happens to it after it leaves their house,” Snyder says. “We’re hoping that this can help educate those folks, and we’re going to publicize it to where people know they can come and see it.”

Snyder puts much emphasis on promoting the Columbus MRF’s public accessibility in hopes that the more visibility residents have on the actual recycling process, the better the recovery rate. “I don’t know of a MRF in the country that does that today,” he says. “If people start to believe in recycling, maybe it can raise that participation level … even better than where we are today, especially in central Ohio.”

International Solid Waste Association will convene Sept. 21-23 in Singapore.

The Netherlands-based International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) has started formulating the programming for its 2022 World Congress, which will take place Sept. 21-23 in Singapore.

Sessions at the three-day event, held at Singapore’s iconic Marina Bay Sands (pictured), focus on a wide variety of waste collection, diversion and recycling topics, with speakers and panelists drawn from several companies and countries.

On Wednesday, Sept. 21, session titles include: “Creating a Sustainable Living Environment;" "Making Waste Management Sexy and Intelligent through Technologies;" "Being Circular is the New Trend, Are You In or Out?;” and “Marine Litter is About People, Not Waste!”

The following day, sessions will examine some of those same topics and include one session focusing on Health and safety waste management requirements.”

On the closing day of Friday, Sept. 23, topics include “Waste Management in an Era of New Energy;" "Making Sound Decisions in Waste Recovery;" "Governance and Legal Compliance beyond the Waste Sector;” and “Financing Waste Management.”

Speakers addressing a variety of topics will arrive from Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, China, Denmark, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The company says it can design and fabricate trommels to meet the needs of any application.

Trommels manufactured by Best Process Solutions (BPS), Brunswick, Ohio, are well-suited to downstream applications that require the separation of materials by size.

Contents are moved to trommels via feeders or conveyors for an even flow rate. The rotating drum then allows for the material to be sorted by size through differing screen apertures.

BPS says it can design and fabricate trommels to meet the needs of any application and to include different tube shapes and multiple screening stages.

The company manufactures a complete line of custom-engineered recycling and bulk material handling equipment, serving a variety of dry processing industries, from chemicals and food to aggregates and recycling.

National Waste & Recycling Association has recognized Republic’s Otay compost facility for its sustainable approach to organics diversion.

The National Waste & Recycling Association, Washington, recently named Phoenix-based Republic Services' Otay compost facility the 2022 Organics Management Facility of the Year. The association recognized the facility for its celebrating its approach to organics diversion.   

According to a news release from Republic, the Otay facility, in Chula Vista, California, is the first fully solar-powered compost facility in the state, recycling food and yard waste from throughout the San Diego region.  

"Republic Services has long been a leader in organics recycling in California, and we are proud to be recognized by NWRA for operating the state's most innovative compost facility," says Pete Keller, vice president of recycling and sustainability for Republic. "The Otay compost facility is an example of our continued investments in infrastructure and technology, helping customers reduce their environmental impact and meet their sustainability goals." 

Earlier this year, California implemented SB 1383, a law requiring most homes and businesses to recycle food and yard waste. Republic says the facility accepts 200 tons per day of this material from the greater San Diego region, including Chula Vista and Carlsbad, and recycles it into nutrient-rich compost and mulch products. Throughout the process, industry-leading cover technology improves operational impacts and reduces water usage to ensure that the operation is sensitive to neighbors and the environment.   

The solar-powered operation utilizes 144 photovoltaic panels and a battery backup system to power everything from blowers and temperature probes used in the composting process to air conditioning in the facility's office. This advanced technology extends to control systems, which can be remotely operated from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Because the facility operates entirely off the grid, municipal customers are able to deliver on their own climate action goals, supporting energy independence and helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  

"We congratulate Republic Services and its Otay Composting Facility on their award," says NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith. "Through innovative solutions like this, our industry continues to make great strides in expanding options for managing materials, which yields better results for the environment and the communities we serve."  

Republic says it operates 12 compost facilities in five states, recycling more than 2 billion pounds of food and yard waste in 2021. Organics recycling directly supports the company's sustainability goal of increasing the recovery and circularity of key materials by 40 percent by 2030. Republic's leadership in organics recycling was previously recognized by NWRA, which named Republic Services the 2020 Organics Recycler of the Year.  

To learn more about Republic Services' sustainability work, click here.   

Trex Co.’s NexTrex Grassroots Movement aims to expand plastic film collection to partners who receive lower volume drop offs.

As a company built on eco-minded values, Trex Co., Winchester, Virginia, a leading manufacturer of high-performance, wood-alternative decking and railing, is enlisting communities and organizations to partner in its recycling efforts.

The recently launched NexTrex Grassroots Movement provides a turnkey framework for municipalities, universities, nonprofits and other qualifying businesses to serve as centralized drop-off locations for recycling polyethylene plastic film while earning funds for their organizations.

The grassroots movement is an expansion of the successful NexTrex recycling program, a nationwide material sourcing initiative for Trex, which manufactures composite decking from 95-percent-reclaimed material, including a mix of industrial wood scrap and recycled polyethylene plastic film. A large portion of the plastic film used by Trex Co. comes from a network of more than 32,000 grocery stores and retail partners that work with Trex to recycle commercial, industrial and postconsumer plastic film gathered through warehouse and front-of-house collection.

The new grassroots program extends the benefits of Trex recycling to businesses and organizations that may not meet the volume criteria for the company’s commercial recycling program, the company says.

“The goals of our grassroots program are to engage more partners, establish more recycling outlets for consumer collection and to increase overall accessibility to recycling by removing hurdles that prevent the organic growth of local plastic film recycling initiatives,” Trex Co. Materials Sourcing Manager Stephanie Hicks says. “The volume requirements established for our large commercial recycling partners are more than some organizations can attain or handle. The grassroots movement opens the program up to smaller but similarly eco-minded groups. It also expands the program beyond traditional grocery stores and retail drop-off locations, which can be limited in their collection abilities due to store hours or collection bin capacity constraints. By forming alternative partnerships, we hope to engage new and broader audiences in recycling.”

Organizations approved for participation in the NexTrex program 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 recycled plastic material. After 20 to 40 bales are compiled (20,000 to 40,000 pounds of recycled plastic film), Trex will pick up and transport the material to its manufacturing facilities in Virginia or Nevada, where it will begin its new life as composite decking. 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.

“The NexTrex program is an ideal example of a scenario where everyone wins,” says Hicks. “Trex wins by sourcing valuable material for our manufacturing process. Our partners win by driving increased community awareness and earning funds for their organizations. And the world wins when we are able to divert plastic waste from ending up in landfills and give it new life in something beautiful and sustainable like Trex decking.”

NexTrex program partners are supplied with everything they need, from instructional videos and promotional materials to free recycling bins and access to professional marketing and public relations support. If needed, Trex will provide upfront financing to help with the purchase and installation of industrial balers for partner locations. Rebate funds earned through material collection can be used to pay off the financing or baler costs, after which partners begin to receive full compensation for all collected film.

“Our partnership with NexTrex has been crucial in keeping LDPE [low-density polyethylene] film and bags in the recycling stream and out of landfills,” Emmet County Recycling Market Development and Commercial Accounts Manager Lindsey Walker says. “NexTrex has also been an outreach catalyst in the sense that other communities and programs are contacting us wanting to learn how we took a problem material—plastic bags—and created a solution via recycling with the best composite lumber manufacturer in the U.S. With good education, outreach … and strong end market relationships, plastic film and bag recycling is possible. Where there is a will there is a way.”

One of the largest recyclers of plastic film in North America, Trex recycles approximately 400 million pounds of plastic waste annually, nearly all of which comes from postconsumer sources such as shopping bags, newspaper sleeves, bubble wrap and package liners along with product overwrap, shrink wrap and stretch film used to palletize boxes, which are collected through NexTrex retail partners and other participating community groups.

Those interested in joining the NexTrex Grassroots Movement can contact the company at recycle@trex.com or visit www.nextrex.com for more information.