What is a MRF? - Materials Recovery Facility

In many towns and cities these days, each householder is provided with at least two bins, maybe more, for recycling. When you deposit materials into your green wheeled bin, they are collected by the refuse/recycling collections crews and taken to the MRF (Materials Recovery Facility) in some districts the rubbish placed in your black bin/bin liner goes direct to the landfill.

The MRF is a new waste technology, and comprises a large shed or several industrial buildings in a complex, where waste with several types of recyclable wastes ('co-mingled' - as sorted by the householder) is sorted further, bulked up into load sizes suitable for transport, made ready for collection and transportation, sold, stored, and shipped to the buyers including some of the original manufacturers.

However, more and more waste disposal authorities nowadays also process the residual or mixed waste bins (ie black plastic bag waste), as is required in Europe for example to achieve the high recycling rates required by the Waste Framework Directive and the Landfill Directive.

When a MRF deals with only the bags (dry solid waste) which have been pre-segregated by the householders it is called a "Clean" MRF, but when the facility also breaks and process the mixed or "residual" waste bags or accepts mixed waste from commercial premises the MRF is called a "Dirty" MRF.

The Materials Recovery Facility is made up of a series of conveyor belts and a mix of manual and automatic procedures to separate the materials and remove the items that we don't need.

MRF operators report varying levels of recycling within their plants, however, the best are currently recycling approximately 75% of incoming waste and diverting it from Landfill for reprocessing or recycling.

The best results are being seen where local authorities have invested significantly in their Materials Recovery Facility (MRF).

This is the reported case for one Wolverhampton, West Midlands UK site, which can take up to 75,000 tonnes of a variety of non hazardous waste per year and is reported to achieve diversion of three quarters of the incoming material away form landfill and into other uses.

One local authority in the US last year (2007) reported that for them one of the greatest accomplishments of the year was that so many recyclables processed at the MRF were diverted from landfills and incinerators.

By so doing, we are informed that the municipalities avoided $3 million in solid waste tipping fees. This was attributed to their success in providing infrastructure and programs that now allow their residents to separate out a large proportion of the recyclables.

(Please note from the above, that in the US, but not in Europe, the politicians always justify their spending in terms of the money saved, in real charges on the Council.)

Landfills - The Ultimate Destination for Residual Waste Left After Processing in a MRF

Landfills released 25% of the UK's methane emissions in 2003, about 2% of UK total greenhouse gas emissions. Figures must be similar for many other developed nations. Despite the existence of the Waste Hierarchy, the majority of UK waste is still being disposed of through landfill.

There is no doubt that this needs to change. But how far should it be taken?

The fact that most waste goes to landfill is also true for a number of other EU nations, but the amounts are due to reduce quite rapidly, and the MRFs, many of which we need, and which will have to be built within the next five to ten years to help achieve this across our nations, have a big role to play.

But at what price?

Sorting - The principle process in a MRF costs money, and this is NOT paid back by the earnings from the recycled materials on any way near the cost.

There is no effective financial control on exactly how much this will cost each ratepayer. Nor can any individual country control its waste spending.

Let me explain:

Society is now, for the first time ever, having to realise and cope with the fact that the non-biodegradable materials which comprise the largest proportion of our waste and of which the quantity continues to rise inexorably, cannot be simply disposed of by throwing into holes in the ground, without very serious consequences.

The need to reduce landfilling is driving waste management strategies. Improving the recycling rate is an essential part of this task and huge amounts of material certainly can be diverted away from landfill by doing this, and the EU Directives will make sure it is - through fines of £150/tonne for waste tonnages exceeding the rules.

The following quotation is included below to emphasise this point:-

"More than a million tons of recyclable paper is thrown away in Massachusetts every year, at a disposal cost of more than $100 million," said Laurie Burt, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) at a recent news conference.

So, sensible levels of recycling of things like paper SAVE money and not to do them is wrong, and the case for doing those recycling actions is a NO BRAINER.

But once you have used up all the "quick wins" how much further should you go with recycling?

Throughout Europe, and many other nations, the driver for increased recycling and landfill diversion is not cost benfit or even sustainability or carbon emissions based.

The Waste Regulations do not set out to ensure that the recycling which is done is done efficiently or in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Instead, legally binding targets have been set which, regardless of sustainability or cost benefit (or even affordability) must be complied with. Of course, all those implementing the Waste Regulations do usually endeavour to ensure the cost value and best level of sustainability of their solutions. However, this is a secondary consideration to compliance with the targets.

Costs for all waste disposal are therefore bound to continue to rise very substantially above present costs.

The cost of collection and disposal of household waste is met through taxation which is a burden on every one of us.

Unfortunately, these costs are set to rise progressively for probably at least the next 10 years, in order that recycling facilities of all types can be brought into use, operated and maintained.

Some recycling actions (perhaps many) will have to be done just to meet diversion targets, and the cost (financial, environmental and carbon emissions) must be ignored.

Are European's and my nation - the British - really aware of this?

What do you think?

Are you ready to pay this money out in rates, and the cost of the goods you buy?

Please give us your VOTE!

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