Equipment Report

Van Dyk, Tomra help equip MRF in Maryland

The Prince George’s County, Maryland, Department of the Environment (DoE) has held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its material recovery facility (MRF) in Largo, Maryland, to display new equipment the DoE says will help process recyclables “more cleanly and efficiently.”

Among the equipment installed in Largo are three new Tomra optical sorting units, an additional elliptical separator, a new permanent magnet, an eddy current separator and a master control panel. The equipment for the project was supplied by Van Dyk Recycling Solutions of Norwalk, Connecticut.

Also included at the MRF is a new plastics sorting line with four 75-cubic-yard storage bunkers for polyethylene terephthalate, natural high-density polyethylene (HDPE) , multicolored HDPE and polypropylene.

Prince George’s County says it took six months to overhaul the MRF.

“The reason the county promotes recycling is that it reduces pollution, reduces greenhouse gases and reduces the amount of waste that ends up in our landfills,” says Floyd Holt, Prince George’s County deputy chief administrative officer for government infrastructure, technology and environmental services.

“The upgraded system will allow recyclable materials to be processed more efficiently,” DoE Director Andrea L. Crooms says. “These updates will save the county time and money, as well as reinforce our mission to recycle as many uncontaminated materials in our waste stream as possible.”

The county lists separating plastics “into more valuable products” as a reason for the investment.

The last updates to the sorting equipment used at the MRF were made in 2007, when Prince George’s County transitioned to a single-stream system to collect recyclables.

The MRF opened its doors in October 1993 as a 65,000-square-foot facility. The facility processed more than 70,000 tons of recyclables in 2020.

AMCS, Confirm to partner on recycling research project

AMCS, a Limerick, Ireland-based global supplier of integrated software and vehicle technology for the waste, recycling and resource industries, has started a collaborative research project with Confirm, the Science Foundation Ireland-funded research center for smart manufacturing that is hosted by the University of Limerick.

The research project will focus on applying technologies to the challenges of waste and recycling companies worldwide that need to fully automate the recording and resolution of exceptions recorded on collection rounds, such as contamination of collected recyclables and other service items, including blocked service access or overloaded containers.

AMCS says the project will investigate the application of key-enabling technologies that are frequently used in smart manufacturing environments, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, camera vision and computer vision, to automate these processes and minimize intervention by drivers and administration staff.

Confirm is focused on developing these enabling technologies to enhance manufacturing in Ireland and globally.

According to AMCS, the initial research project is a two-year investment and will involve a team of Confirm Ph.D. researchers and academics who will collaborate with AMCS employees.

“We are delighted to announce our collaboration with Confirm, a local, world-class research center,” says Jimmy Martin, who is the CEO and co-founder of the AMCS Group. “This application of cutting-edge technologies has the potential to automate at scale the identification and management of collection exceptions.”

Martin continues, “Innovation is at the center of everything we do, and we believe that this collaboration can deliver significant value for our customers in the areas of improving resource management, sustainability as well as margin protection. This project is a core part of our Smart City strategy, where we are focused on delivering future-proof solutions for tomorrow’s connected waste infrastructure.”