Equipment Report

NRT upgrades optical sorters

Nashville, Tennessee-based National Recovery Technologies (NRT) has announced a next-generation platform for the company’s SpydIR and ColorPlus optical sorters, which debuted during IFAT 2016 and WasteExpo 2016. The new platform incorporates NRT’s proprietary In-Flight Sorting technology and continuous autocalibration and introduces numerous new features, including performance-enhancing design and internalized controls, according to the company.

NRT says the new design of its optical sorters is the culmination of customer feedback and years of research and development aimed at improving the company’s already industry-leading recovery rates.

“For our customers, a couple of percentage points in recovery can significantly impact their bottom line,” says NRT President Matthias Erdmannsdoerfer. “Through mapping the trajectory of ejected commodities with high-speed cameras, we found that a small percentage were bouncing back and not being recovered. The new units offer a sleek, modern design, but more importantly the new shape provides advanced trajectory control that virtually eliminates ‘bounce backs’ of any ejected objects,” he continues.

The platform’s shape creates a more controlled ejection pattern and laminar air flow, the company says, that will improve the recovery of fiber and film.

“It’s a huge advancement,” Erdmannsdoerfer says.

The company says the new design includes a self-contained electrical system and a new software package, featuring an intuitive human machine interface (HMI) and analytics delivered by NRT Connect.

NRT’s optical sorters can be seen in action at www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeVMyDRZy6Y&feature=youtu.be.

NRT designs, manufactures and installs optical sorting solutions. The company is a member of Eugene, Oregon-based Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) Family of Cos., a provider of automated sorting systems to the worldwide waste processing and recycling industries.

CP Group to supply single-stream processing system to Waste Pro

Waste Pro, headquartered in Longwood, Florida, has selected San Diego-based CP Group to install a new 13-to-15-ton-per-hour single-stream recycling facility (McMRF) at the company’s Regional Operations Center in Sarasota, Florida.

“We have worked with CP previously and look forward to installation starting in May,” says Keith Banasiak, Waste Pro regional vice president. “We should be fully operational by July.”

The facility will bring new recycling capabilities to the Sarasota-Brandenton region and will focus on recovery of old corrugated containers (OCC) No. 11, mixed paper No. 2, old newsprint (ONP) No. 8 and plastic containers Nos. 1-7.

Waste Pro serves more than 245,000 customers in the area.

The company will house its single-stream system in a new 14,000-square-foot building while still using its existing 30,000-square-foot building at the site. A creative design enables a baler line to be incorporated in the existing building while reusing the current baler line with the new processing equipment aligning with it, CP Group says.

Flexibility played a large role in the system design, and CP says it overcame the design challenges of incorporating the existing baler feed in a small footprint.

The solution was to shorten conveyors without sacrificing sorting ability, the company adds. Working in partnership, Frank Casagrande, Waste Pro director of recycling operations, and CP engineers used a design that was created for full baling and storage capabilities in the existing building. By implementing unique solutions, CP says it and Waste Pro turned design challenges into operational enhancements.

CP disc screens are at the heart of the system’s recovery technology. The CP OCCScreen captures OCC, while the CP Glass Breaker Screen captures glass and removes glass fines from fiber and containers. “This is essential for cleaner products going forward in the system, since glass is a main contaminant in single stream throughout the United States,” Casagrande says.

According to CP Group, the CPScreen uses patented cam-lobe discs that offer the proper agitation needed to separate 3D material.

More information on the CP Group is available at www.cpgrp.com.

Machinex adds to its baler lineup

The Machinex Group, headquartered in Plessisville, Quebec, introduced its II Ram high-capacity baler series to the American market at WasteExpo in Las Vegas June 7-9.

Designed to meet the multipurpose needs of recyclers, the high-speed, two-ram baler series maximizes density while reducing operating costs, the company says. The machines’ prefill device is designed to increase main ram cycle speed in forward and in reverse modes, increasing throughput and reducing energy consumption. Other design features include bolt-on liners for ease of maintenance and a single-plate frame construction to provide structural stability.

“We built the II Ram baler series using the same distinguished features as our single-ram baler series, knowing they offer unparalleled benefits to our customers,” says Paul Fortier, Machinex research and development director.

Eriez unveils new product for ASR recovery

Eriez of Erie, Pennsylvania, has released its new Ultra High-Frequency (UHF) eddy current separator. This product, according to Eriez, can recover aluminum, copper and other nonferrous fines from automobile shredder residue (ASR) without the need for additional sensor-based or optical sorting equipment.

Eriez says the UHF eddy current separator’s rotor, designed to produce exceptionally high gauss at the belt’s surface, together with its large number of magnetic poles operating at higher rpm, creates ultra-high-frequency changes that result in the separation of bare copper wire and other valuable nonferrous metals as small as 0.07 to 0.11 inches.

Eriez says the UHF eddy current separator is designed to ensure trouble-free operation and long service life.

More information is available at http://erieznews.com/nr373.

Republic opens new commercial sorting system in California

Republic Services has announced the opening of its new commercial sorting system at its Anaheim Recycling Center in Anaheim, California. The new system is capable of processing more than 1,000 tons of recyclables per day, or 100 tons per hour (tph), and is expected to double capacity in the marketplace.

“Orange County has been at the forefront of sustainability practices for decades,” says Heath Eddleblute, area president of Republic Services. “This community was an early adopter of All-In-One Recycling, at home and work, which made recycling easier and enabled greater participation. Now, with the expanded commercial capabilities, we're positioned to bring durability to local recycling initiatives and help our customers achieve their long-term sustainability goals.”

The new commercial sorting system was designed by RRT Design & Construction, Melville, New York, and Bulk Handling Systems (BHS), Eugene, Oregon, and has been undergoing testing and optimization in recent months. It replaces older commercial recycling equipment and includes two, 70-foot trommels positioned near the start of sorting operations to increase capacity and improve the recovery rate. The system was engineered to meet future commercial recycling demands in Orange County, and early performance has exceeded expectations, according to the company.

The mixed waste system features five debris roll screens and is integrated with a 50-tph single-stream system completed by BHS in 2012.

“When we designed the single-stream system, we built in capacity and design features to process recyclables from the mixed waste system, particularly with our NRT optical line,” says BHS CEO Steve Miller. “Republic has embraced two processing philosophies in tandem to maximize recovery and help the community reach its diversion goals. They have executed on their vision, and it’s fulfilling to see it all come together with the completion of this phase.”

In Orange County, Republic has more than 600 employees who serve 200,000 residential and 12,300 commercial customers.