Recology Sonoma Marin RHRF

STEPS

Recycling Process

This RHRF functions as a largely mechanized system with automated components built to effectively segregate and process recyclables for post-recycling manufacturing. The recycling process starts when the trucks offload the materials in the tipping area, and recyclables are held briefly before subsequent processing. After this, a front loader conveys the materials into a drum feeder, which ensures continuous material flow. As the recyclables enter the initial phase of segregation, manual sorters deployed along the sorting belt remove any large/bulky materials, non-recyclables, tanglers such as hoses, and plastic film that could cause system blockages or lower the quality of recovered materials. Once the contaminants are removed, the recyclables travel through a set of four Deck OCC screens. These OCC screens feature a rotating shaft mechanism fitted with discs that propel and redirect large OCC over the discs into a designated cardboard collection zone. Smaller and heavier recyclables drop down through the gaps between the discs and proceed forward to the next stage of processing. The rest of the stream advances to a 3 Deck Fines screen that is equipped to remove fine materials, fragmented glass, and other small debris.

Next, the recyclables go through multiple Ballistic Separators, which separate materials based on their physical dimensions. In this stage, 2D materials, such as newspaper and office paper, are pushed upward and are conveyed to a separate fiber line. Whereas 3D materials, like containers and bottles, drop down to a lower level for dedicated handling. To further improve sorting accuracy within the paper stream, a series of optical sorting units is put into operation. A small fiber optical sorting unit detects and diverts specific categories of paper, whereas the Fiber Cleaning and 3D Fiber optical sorting unit extracts any leftover non-fiber residuals. This technique provides high-grade fibers and OCC before they are sent for baling.

Concurrently, the 3D line (containers) goes through supplementary mechanized separation. A strong magnet extracts steel materials from the rest of the stream. Non-ferrous materials, mainly aluminum cans, are extracted using eddy current technology, which generates a repelling magnetic field that deflects the aluminum materials away from the conveyor belt and into a designated bunker. Glass materials are segregated by a dedicated glass recovery system that is equipped with steel discs, which deliberately crush the glass items for processing. The crushed glass then falls through the system, where it is gathered for further processing.

Plastic containers flow across a high-tech lineup of optical sorters. The PET/HDPE optical sorting unit uses infrared sensors and high-pressure air jets to detect and segregate plastics according to their resin type. The material stream is further processed by an HDPE Quality Control optical sorter, which guarantees that only clean and accurately sorted HDPE is sent for baling. Manual QC is also often applied. Once the sorting is complete, the different recovered materials are sent for baling. All material, fiber, and containers are baled by a 2 RAM baler.

The compactor is used to compact the residuals from the line to maximize loads going to the landfill. These segregated and processed materials are ultimately sent to industrial re-processors and manufacturing facilities.