Kent County, Michigan, recycling center undergoes upgrades

Michigan’s Kent County Recycling & Education Center (REC) is scheduling upgrades to improve sorting efficiency and quality by replacing its mechanical screens used to sort paper. Renovations will start Feb. 24 and last until mid-March. The facility will be closed and unable to accept recyclables, from both curbside and drop-off locations, for processing while new equipment is installed, according to a city news release.

“Periodic upgrades and renovations, like the replacement of our paper screens, ensure the recycling facility is up to date and can efficiently and reliably process clean materials for recycling markets,” says Nic VanderVinne, resource recovery and recycling manager for the Kent County Department of Public Works. “The Kent County Recycling & Education Center allows residents to conveniently recycle materials with a single-stream sorting process that requires we have screens to automate the sorting process for materials like glass, metal, plastic and paper.”

San Diego-based CP Group will be providing the equipment for the upgrades. The company says it will replace REC's paper screens with new machines to help improve efficiencies, including the CP anti-wrap screen for the larger fiber grades and a CP polishing screen.

Paper accounts for 70 percent of the material the REC processes. In 2019, the Kent County REC processed 16,692 tons of paper products. The facility sorts out at least a truckload of paper every day. The screens used to sort paper are original equipment from when the Kent County REC opened in 2010 and have run for more than 30,000 operational hours, the city says.

“The recycling industry has changed significantly in the past few years due to increased global import restrictions,” says Dar Baas, director of Kent County Department of Public Works. “It’s imperative we make improvements to keep producing a high-quality product in a very competitive domestic market.”

The REC is approaching its 10^th year of single-stream recycling. Over the past decade, the center has undergone periodic maintenance and upgrades to adapt to changes in community recycling habits and packaging trends. In 2017, Kent County added equipment to accept paper cartons and improve automation.

Of the temporary closure, Baas says, “We understand this is inconvenient, but it’s necessary to ensure we can continue to be a reliable processor of recyclables for the region.”