Reading between the lines

The person reading these words may be doing so in the September 2015 print edition of Recycling Today magazine. With each passing year, however, the likelihood magazines are being read from a computer, tablet or smartphone screen increases.

The ongoing shift from print media and direct mail to electronic formats has proven a classic example of disruptive technology on many fronts. Foremost among those who have had their business models disrupted are manufacturers of newsprint and of paper used in magazine and book production.

A couple of steps downstream, material recovery facility (MRFs) operators sorting and processing residentially generated recyclables also have suffered disruption, as old newspapers (ONP) and old magazines (OMG) grades have been dwindling rapidly, and the mixed paper grade suffers from a decline in discarded junk mail.

The reduction in incoming ONP, OMG and junk mail is one reason why many MRFs in North America shipped fewer tons in 2014 than they did in 2012.

An analysis of tonnage figures for more than 30 large-volume MRFs shows that, on average, their volume shipped declined by 7.2 percent in 2014 compared with 2012.

Other factors play into this average decline as well, including:

• lightweighting of packaging, with makers of beverage containers and other types of packaging continuing to seek resource- and fuel-efficient designs;
• intentional volume and scale limitations preferred by some plant operators, who see sorting and quality-related limitations on ideal MRF sizes; and
• increased residue percentages (including good materials culled with the bad) stemming from the use of larger recycling bins used as “catch-all” containers by some home owners.
   

By no means is the news entirely bad for MRF operators. As the 2014 tonnage figures supplied by some of North America’s largest recycling companies indicate, the nation’s largest cities continue to be served by MRFs sorting and processing from 60,000 to 250,000 tons of recyclables per year.

While the 7.2 percent volume decrease figure is an average, some facilities have expanded their output. The Cincinnati-area MRF operated by Ohio-based Rumpke Waste & Recycling shipped out 81,200 tons in 2012 but more than doubled its output to 167,000 tons in 2014. The Germantown, Wisconsin, MRF operated by Waste Management Inc. shipped out nearly 210,000 tons in 2014, a 28.9 percent increase over the 162,700 tons shipped in 2012.

Slumping commodity prices this decade have negatively affected MRF operators, but the 7.2 percent decline in volume in two years probably would be regarded with envy by operators in the scrap metal sector, where lower pricing can bring about instant double-digit percentage declines in material volume.

The inelastic nature of flows into MRFs compared with the flow of material over scrap yard scales also is being helped by the corporate sustainability movement, with many consumer products firms and retailers having heightened their awareness of using packaging that is welcome on the MRF tipping floor.

Many of the challenges and opportunities referred to earlier in this article will be discussed at the Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference (www.RecyclingTodayEvents.com), Oct. 14-16, 2015, in Chicago.

Among the sessions at the event, one titled “Recycling Education and the Bottom Line” will offer insight into informing residential program participants about how to use their recycling bins properly. The conference’s keynote session, “From Waste to Recycling to Resource Management,” will examine the momentum that has built up among brand owners that want to ensure their products and packaging are recycled and the role recyclers such as MRF operators need to play.

Individuals seeking registration information for the conference can visit www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1644489.

The author is editor of Recycling Today and can be contacted at btaylor@gie.net.