The Evolution of Mixed Waste Processing Facilities – 1970 to Today:

Interest in mixed waste processing (MWP) facilities is an emerging trend in municipal solid waste (MSW) management. This technology is drawing increasing interest from diverse municipalities across the United States, and the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Plastics Division was seeking to learn more about such facilities, as well as recent developments in the technology that will enable these facilities to be part of an integrated waste management system that impacts plastics recycling and recovery. GBB was selected to research MWP facilities in the United States and international companies looking to sell into the U.S. market, and to compile its findings into a report.

The Evolution of Mixed Waste Processing Facilities— Technology and Equipment Guide:

GBB was subsequently tasked with preparing a supplemental report reviewing 10 specific types of commercially proven equipment that are traditionally used or adapted for handling solid waste, such as optical sorting systems, bag openers, air separation systems, and densifiers. The report describes how each type of equipment is uniquely designed to separate specific constituents in MSW for both MRFs and MWPFs. The evaluation includes the quality of the finished product, the volume captured versus lost, and the speed at which the processing equipment operates.

The supplemental report, entitled “The Evolution of Mixed Waste Processing Facilities—Technology and Equipment Guide” is available on ACC’s website.