recycling education a mrf’s eye view
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RECYCLING EDUCATIONA MRF’S EYE VIEW
CHRIS COADYDIRECTOR, MUNICIPAL BIDDING AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
RECYCLING EDUCATION AND THE BOTTOM LINEOCTOBER 15, 2015PAPER AND PLASTICS RECYCLING CONFERENCE | CHICAGO, IL
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ReCommunity Stats:
• Pure Play Recycler• 31 Facilities• 28 MRFs• 3 Transfer Stations• 1,500 + Employees• Approx. 1.8 M Tons
Processed in 2014• We don’t own landfills• We don’t own trucks• We are focused on
maximizing recovery and sharing the profits with our community partners
RECOMMUNITY AT A GLANCE
THE PARADIGM SHIFT
COMPOSITIONCHANGES IN SINGLE STREAM RECYCLING
COSTSMRF & LABOR COSTS INCREASING FASTER THAN CPI
CONTAMINATIONMRF PROCESSING AND MAINTENANCE
COMMODITIESGLOBAL PRICES IN PROLONGED DECLINE
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THE PARADIGM SHIFT
STREAM COMPOSITION CHANGES
RISING LABOR COST
INCREASING MAINTENANCE/ PROCESSING COSTS
DEPRESSED COMMODITY PRICES
• Shifts in consumer preferences, increasing levels on non-recyclables in the bin and industry driven product lightweighting
• Legislative actions continue to increase minimum wages rates $0.50/hour can increase labor cost by as much as $3/ton
• Negative effects of stream composition, increased down time due to higher contamination rates and requirements attributed to “Green Fence”
• Revise revenue sharing provisions to share commodity risk more equitably
CHALLENGE What Happened
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COMPOSITIONSHIFTING CONSUMER PREFERENCES AND NEW PACKAGING DESIGNS ARE
CAUSING A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THE COMPOSITION OF WASTE STREAMS PROCESSED BY MRFS
SHIFTING CONSUMER PREFERENCES AND NEW PACKAGING DESIGNS ARE
CAUSING A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THE COMPOSITION OF WASTE STREAMS PROCESSED BY MRFS
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COMPOSITIONPAPER AND NEWSPRINTIncreased online consumption of news and media has significantly reduced the amount of newspapers and magazines available to recycle.
SOURCE REDUCTIONAluminum and metal containers are becoming thinner and lighter, requiring more units and effort at the MRF to collect and sort the same metric tonnage.
BIO-BASED PACKAGINGNon-recyclable bio-based packaging, like PLA, often gets mixed with recyclables like PET, thus contaminating the stream and reducing overall value.
FLEXIBLE PACKAGINGManufacturers are seeking out and using flexible composite plastic packaging, instead of paper or glass. These materials are difficult to recycle, if they can be recycled at all.
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CONTAMINATIONNON-RECYCLABLE RESIDUE AND
CONTAMINANTS ARE CONSISTENTLY HIGH ACROSS FACILITIES, LOWERING
PLANT EFFICIENCY AND THE VALUE OF COMMODITIES PRODUCED
NON-RECYCLABLE RESIDUE AND CONTAMINANTS ARE CONSISTENTLY
HIGH ACROSS FACILITIES, LOWERING PLANT EFFICIENCY AND THE VALUE
OF COMMODITIES PRODUCED
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CONTAMINATIONWISHFUL RECYCLINGMajor cause is “wishful recycling.” Residents toss items in the recycling bin/cart, hoping materials can be recycled, even if not officially acceptable.
UNSAFE MATERIALSYard waste, wood, hoses, wires, cables as well as bio-waste items, medical waste, diapers and needles create extremely dangerous conditions for our employees.
HOUSEHOLD WASTEResidents in some areas are simply treating the recycling cart as an extra trash can, contaminating the stream with food waste, dirt and plastic bags, which cause significant downtime at the MRF.
MORE
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COSTSMRF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
HAS SUFFERED DUE TO THE CUMULATIVE NEGATIVE EFFECT
OF STREAM COMPOSITION CHANGES ON PRODUCTIVITY &
COMMODITY VALUE
MRF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE HAS SUFFERED DUE TO THE
CUMULATIVE NEGATIVE EFFECT OF STREAM COMPOSITION
CHANGES ON PRODUCTIVITY & COMMODITY VALUE
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COSTSCAUSE & EFFECTStream composition changes can directly cost a typical MRF up to nearly $100k per month in lost productivity due to slower throughput, higher residue rates and increased downtime.
LABOR INCREASEMRFs create opportunity for entry-level workers and are sensitive to minimum wage increases.
Legislative actions are increasing hourly wages.
$0.50/hour increase can raise processing costs by $3/ton.
CPI DISPARITYMany contracts use CPI as a measure of labor cost increases, however, wages and benefit costs are steadily rising faster than CPI.
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COMMODITIESTHE MARKET FOR RECYCLED
COMMODITIES HAS GLOBALIZED WHILE PRICES FOR ALL
RECOVERED MATERIALS HAVE BEEN IN A PROLONGED DECLINE
THE MARKET FOR RECYCLED COMMODITIES HAS GLOBALIZED
WHILE PRICES FOR ALLRECOVERED MATERIALS HAVE
BEEN IN A PROLONGED DECLINE
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COMMODITIESCOMMODITY PRICING LOWONP & OCC pricing has declined over the past few years. Plastic prices have dropped sharply due to declines in oil pricing.
CHINA CONNECTIONChina’s “Operation Green Fence” raised the quality bar, forcing MRF operators to work even harder at producing high quality materials in a complicated stream.
FUTURE UNCERTAINForecasts vary on how long oil prices will stay low. Some industry analysts predict that pricing will not return to higher rates until 2020 or later.
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PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS MUST
WORK TOGETHER AND ADAPT TO
INDUSTRYCHALLENGES
EDUCATION IS KEY
QUALITY STANDARDS
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An influx of unacceptable materials/contaminated loads at many of our facilities
Time and money to inspect, reject, extract contaminants from the system
Creates dangerous conditions for our employees
We must enforce more stringent quality standards for inbound materials- End Markets, MRF’s, Haulers, Municipalities
WHICH SCREEN WORKS?
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INBOUND QUALITY INSPECTIONS
Dedicated Safety Staging area for random Inbound Quality Inspections
Grading system for inspected loads
Inspectors trained to look for non conforming items
Photos and data recorded on electronic tablet
Information provided in real time
INBOUND QUALITY INSPECTIONS
NON PROGRAM MATERIAL
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DANGEROUS CONTAMINATION
Lack of care in households for what goes in the recycling bin
More food waste, other household trash
Yard waste, wood, hoses, etc. on the rise
Increase incidence of bio-waste materials like medical waste and diapers
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NEED FOR STRUCTURAL CHANGE
Recycling cannot be seen as ‘free’
Operators cannot bear the combination of higher costs and lower revenues due stream quality
Residents need simple, clear messaging in what does and doesn’t belong in the recycling bin
Consistent Ongoing Education Key
National Waste& Recycling Association
Recycling SmartRecycling is the first step in the process, it's important to put materials in the bin that actually belong there. Know before you throw!
website: beginwiththebin.org
Collection Crews can record location and details
Information instantly uploaded to a real-time map for supervisors.
Problem locations easily flagged with a mobile device GPS
Cameras in truck can capture images
Easily accessible App, No new software
MOBILE 311-GIS SOLUTIONS
Website: facilitydude.com/solutions/gis/mobile311/
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PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS MUST
WORK TOGETHER AND ADAPT TO
INDUSTRYCHALLENGES
EDUCATION IS KEY
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THANK YOU