Balcones Resources partners with CP Group in San Antonio MRF project

Balcones Resources, Austin, Texas, has selected CP Group, San Diego, as the equipment provider for its material recovery facility (MRF) in San Antonio, set to open in 2024.   

Balcones says the equipment represents the latest in automation and technology in the industry, which makes the MRF the most advanced in the country, with five to 10 manual sorters. The MRF will have a processing capacity of 50 tons per hour and will serve residential and commercial recycling streams in San Antonio. It will be integrated with the ability to process high volumes of postcommercial, postindustrial paper and plastic scrap to benefit the region’s growing distribution infrastructure.  

“CP Group has been a tremendous partner throughout this process,” says Adam Vehik, CEO of Balcones. “Their team worked closely with us to design a best-in-class system that would provide superior recovery rates and economic value to San Antonio, and we knew that their reputation of reliability and consistent performance would serve to strengthen our proposal.”   

According to a news release from CP Group, the facility will contain technological and processing advancements, including auger screens that eliminate the presort station. The MRF will use a CP Primary Auger screen to scalp 6-inch-minus material and two patented old corrugated cardboard (OCC) Auger Screens to scalp 8-inch-minus material to produce a clean OCC end product. These three machines are located before any sorters, allowing for downstream sorting efficiency of fractionated material streams.   

The screens remove OCC and other large materials from the remainder of the automated recovery process. Material is sent to a four-deck glass breaker screen and LightsOut ADS to remove and clean glass. After the glass is removed, the material goes to two high-volume disc screens, a CP AntiWrap Screen for the midsize fraction, and a CPScreen for the small fraction material. These screens play an important role in liberating conjoined material and fines. Disc Screens split material by mechanical properties so the downstream automated sorting equipment can achieve the highest efficiencies, according to the equipment supplier.   

The system will use a high degree of sorting automation, including five MSS FiberMax optical sorters, which run at 1,000 feet per minute on 112-inch-wide belts. These machines will use different sorting recipes depending on the unit’s position in the MRF to positively sort fiber, OCC and contaminants. On the container line, three MSS PlasticMax optical sorters will sort polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP). A magnet will remove ferrous, and an eddy current will remove nonferrous material. Two MSS AI units will be used to quality control containers, specifically PET and aluminum.   

The system will incorporate CP’s new silo designs, which include leveling augers and silo augers. Using augers in silos provides maximum use of space and an accurate feed to the baling lines to eliminate half bales or bale reruns. The facility will have three balers, one single-ram for cardboard and two two-ram balers. Each commodity has the opportunity to reach two balers for redundancy.   

“We’ve incorporated the latest and greatest in MRF technology and automation into this design. The system will be operational with as few as five sorters,” says Branden Sidwell, CP Group design engineer. “This exceptionally low headcount comes thanks to material fractionating along with the automated recovery and quality control of nearly every commodity.”   

The Balcones MRF will support the development of a circular economy in San Antonio. It will be able to aggregate significant volumes of high-quality recycled materials, creating quality feedstock for more businesses to enter the circular economy. The site and building designs are focused on rapid turnaround time for city collections, haulers, outbound recipients of baled commodities and businesses.   

“The MRF will enable the city and the business community to make major progress toward their recycling goals,” says Joaquin Mariel, Balcones’ chief commercial officer. “Its advanced technology will enable the city to get the highest possible value out of the recycling stream. This means more of the recoverable plastic, metal, glass, cardboard [and more], that is in recycling bins today will be sent to an end market that will bring value to the city’s program. The same will be true for any hauler or neighboring community that will use the Balcones San Antonio MRF as their recycling partner.”