Buffalo Enterprises LLC RHRF
OVERVIEW
RHRF Background
In 2012, the City of Buffalo shifted to a single-stream recycling collection at the curb for all commercial enterprises, as well as residential properties. These recyclables are processed by Buffalo Recycling Enterprises at their advanced recycling facility on Hopkins Street in Buffalo, NY. This facility uses a 25-ton/hour Bollegraaf recycling system, sourced from Van Dyk Baler. This RHRF manages co-mingled recyclables. This large-scale processing system allows the RHRF to process both commercial and residential materials collected from various parts of the City of Buffalo. The facility is equipped with a total of 12 sorters, with 3 TiTech optical sorters. The RHRF operates two shifts per day, five days a week, starting around 5 AM in the morning, operating until daily recovery targets are met (usually around midnight). The facility manages around 330 to 400 tons of recyclables every day.
VIEW
Location
STEPS
Recycling Process
Incoming recyclables are first offloaded onto the tipping pad, where skilled loader personnel examine incoming materials for any fire hazards and major contaminants prior to placing recyclables into a hopper. There is a drum feeder beneath the hopper that manages the flow of recyclables onto the sloped conveyor.
The RHRF is equipped with a triple-level OCC sorting screen, which segregates large OCC from the remaining materials. After this, old newsprint and mixed paper are separated with the help of a double-deck ONP screen. The ONP and OCC screens are integrated with an air-jet system, which helps in separating lighter materials (fiber) from the heavier ones (containers). Remaining materials pass through a glass breaker where glass and fines are broken down and separated. The facility is equipped with 3 TiTech optical sorting units that further improve the grade of recovered materials. To guarantee a cleaner fiber stream, a TiTech PaperSort technology is used to remove contaminants. There are two TiTech PolySorts within the facility. 11 One utilizes metal screening that helps in removing fiber from the container line, whereas the second, PolySort, mainly detects and separates PET bottles.
There are key monitoring stations (mainly after the two paper screens) where manual sorters are positioned to remove any large contaminants or any hazardous materials such as electrical items, batteries, etc. Another set of sorters is placed on downstream lines to segregate plastics like HDPE. Strong and powerful magnets are used to extract ferrous materials. As the items move across the magnetic separating unit, ferrous materials are retained on the conveyor belt before being deposited into a specific bunker. Materials, such as aluminum, are extracted using eddy current technology, which ejects the materials into a designated storage bunker. All the recovered materials are sent for baling.
IMAGES
Photo Gallery
