Taking control

The Recycling Today Media Group has added a new event to our roster of conferences in 2016: The MRF & Recycling Plant Operations Forum, scheduled for Oct. 17-18 in Chicago, ahead of our annual Paper & Plastics Recycling Conference, which is scheduled for Oct. 19-21.

One of the goals of this new event is to help attendees optimize plant operations. The point is that with so many factors being beyond recyclers’ control, such as commodity values, manufacturing activity and material generation, this is one area where they can have more command. By exercising it, recycling facility operators can help to improve their bottom lines.

That is not to say that controlling plant operations is an easy task. Processing plants for single-stream, dual-stream, mixed waste and C&D materials are complex, requiring significant capital investment and incurring ongoing operating expenses. Managing these investments to ensure maximum recovery, purity, throughput and return on investment, as well as the safety of the workforce, is challenging.

The MRF & Recycling Plant Operations Forum, organized in cooperation with RRT Design & Construction, Melville, New York, is geared toward plant managers, maintenance managers, regional managers, owners, consultants, engineers, government officials, equipment suppliers and anyone else interested in better understanding plant operations and technology.

Attendees will learn which metrics they should be scrutinizing and how to understand and report them. Maintenance best practices, screen optimization and workforce management also will be discussed, as will the effect of changing materials and specifications on operations. Additional sessions address plant safety and the new ANSI (American National Standards Institute) standards for material recovery facilities (MRFs).

While the editorial staff of Recycling Today attempts to address these topics regularly within the magazine, the MRF & Recycling Plant Operations Forum gives attendees the unique opportunity to hear the issues affecting other operators and the solutions they have employed firsthand. They have the chance to engage in meaningful discussions on these topics with their peers—something a magazine article doesn’t allow for—and to hear a variety of perspectives from other attendees and from forum speakers.

The Recycling Today staff hopes to see you at this event and welcomes your feedback on the forum as we look forward to planning for 2017.