Inside the LRS Exchange MRF

LRS recently opened its newest material recovery facility (MRF), dubbed the Exchange, marking the latest investment in what the Rosemont, Illinois-based waste and recycling services provider hopes is a step forward in its pursuit to “reshape the future of waste and recycling” to lessen environmental impact across the Midwest.

The MRF started up in May, with LRS hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 9 to officially mark its opening, and sits on the company’s 25-acre campus in the Stockyards neighborhood of Chicago on the city’s south side.

The Exchange represents a $50 million investment, and LRS received financial support from several groups, including Australia-based Macquarie Group through Macquarie Assent Management, New York-based Closed Loop Partners’ Closed Loop Infrastructure Fund, Circular Plastics Fund and Beverage Fund, as well as from American Beverage through its Every Bottle Back initiative.

LRS also used a grant from The Recycling Partnership, Washington, through its Polypropylene Recycling Coalition to fund an optical sorter dedicated to sorting polypropylene.

“We built this facility in Chicago and for Chicago,” LRS Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Emily Olson-Torch said during the grand opening. “It’s our pleasure to bring this level of recycling and innovation to all the people who make this city remarkable.”

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LRS worked with San Diego-based MRF equipment and solutions provider CP Group on the design and installation of the Exchange. The site is equipped to process single-stream recyclables as well as nonhazardous and nonspecial municipal solid waste. The company says the MRF can process 25 tons per hour and has plans for future expansion of up to 35 tons per hour.

According to LRS, the Exchange is projected to divert 224 million pounds of recyclables annually.

“When we started this project, we set out to create the most innovative MRF in the country, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job doing that,” LRS Executive Vice President John Sliwicki said. “The Exchange stands not only as a testament to our commitment to innovation, but as a beacon of the postcollection transformation and the limitless potential of technology in redefining waste management.”

A CP Auger Screen was installed at the front of the system in place of a traditional presort that typically includes manual picking, and LRS has adjusted its screen to allow material 8 inches or smaller to be filtered to its second line for further sorting.

It also includes a CP Drum Feeder, which features a rotating drum that prevents surges and provides a consistent material feed rate. It is configured with bolt-on cast-chromium alloy paddles to break and fluff up material and is helpful in breaking open bagged material.

The Exchange also includes six optical sorters from sorting equipment manufacturer MSS—three to sort fiber and three to sort plastic. Each of its MSS Plastic Max optical sorters are dedicated to specific materials: one sorts polyethylene terephthalate, one sorts high-density polyethylene and the third sorts polypropylene.

Compared with LRS’ Heartland Recycling Center in Forest View, Illinois, which features only two optical sorters, the Exchange processes 10 more tons an hour with fewer employees thanks to a more automated operation.

The Exchange also includes two Harris two-ram balers.

Director of MRF Operations Mark Molitor estimates about 20 percent to 25 percent residual coming out of the Exchange.

“At LRS it’s our mission, and it’s a clear mission, that we are committed to reducing the environmental impact of that of the industries and communities in which we serve, and this infrastructure that we've we built here today will help us do that as we move forward,” LRS Chief Operating Officer John Larsen said.

“The facility embodies this commitment by revolutionizing waste management and recycling practices right here in the city of Chicago. … This is the closest facility that we have to downtown, and for us to be able to offer this facility to not just our internal volumes with our third-party customers is essential as we move forward, and as well as working with the city of Chicago for their volumes as well.”

LRS manages recycling collection services for four of Chicago’s six zones, and in an effort to increase transparency into the recycling process and educate residents on its benefits, the company also launched its Blue Cart Recycling Map, which showcases the journey of recyclable material, including where it’s sorted, where it ends up as well as providing tonnage data from its MRFs.

“You'll see what the recyclables go through to be sorted, the tonnage of recyclables collected and the destinations for processing it into new materials,” Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Cole Stoddard said. “This story map is an effort to increase transparency in our recycling practices and we are excited to share this tool created in partnership with LRS.

“It's important for us to all work together in our fight against climate change. We will continue our collaboration with public private partnership to make Chicago a cleaner and greener city.”