Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Material Recovery Facility

(Sorting Plant)

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Stuttgart has 10 Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs)

3 sorting plants for packaging, commercial and demolition waste

2 sorting plants for dismantling of WEEE

1 sorting plants for construction and demolition waste

3 sorting plants for paper

1 sorting plant for light weight fraction (packaging)

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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There is no standard MRF process

Processing depends on:

• Kind of material to be sorted

• Separate collection

- how the material was collected (kerbside, bring system)

• Commingled collection

• Target for sorting (Recycling, RDF)

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Material recovery facility

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Two main separation principles:

Screening/ Separation according to sizesClassifying: (screening, air classification)

Sorting: Separation, using the physical character of the material (magnetic separation, ballistic, eddy current, etc.)

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Flow sheet of a MRF for Light Weight Fraction

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Large Rejects

Plastic films

Fe-Metals

Tetra Paks etc.

Rejects

Aluminium

PE - bottles

Mixed plastic

Paper/board

Cutting shredder

Air classifier

Magnetic separator

Eddy current separator

Roll bank NIR

Drum screen

Drum screen

Post-Sorting

Air classifier

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Input: Packaging waste

Reception area

Cutting shredder opens the waste bags

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Screening

Drum screens use a combination of rotation and screening

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Bucket screen

• operates like a large drum screen

• advantage: absolutely jam-free• in severe operating conditions

Coarse fraction

Fine fraction

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Inclined sorting machines

The Inclined Sorting Machine separates flat products from body-shaped products, inert material from non-combustible material.

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Ballistic separator

Separates light and heavy fractions depending on its physical differences (specific weight)

Consists of a movable and perforated slope which is distributed into several vibrating segments

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Air classifier

Isolates light plastic and paper from the packaging stream – facilitates further separation

Blower sucks air up through the throat, carrying light materials (paper, plastic) which then enter a cyclone separator where they loose velocity and drop out of the air stream

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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To directly remove ferrous materials (tinplate cans or tin lids)

• floor-mounted

• or suspended by support beams over a moving conveyor belt

Magnetic separator

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Eddy current separator

High-frequency oscillatory magnetic fields induce an electric current in the conductive object

• separates conductive but nonferrous metals• from lightweight commingled waste

• usually performed near the end of a separation• process

• useful for separating aluminium from plastic mix

This electric current generates a magnetic field, which causes the object to be repelled away from the primary magnetic field

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Manual sorting

Manual picking stations line one or both sides of the moving conveyor belt

Each picking station usually is devoted to one type of recyclable material

System is less capital intensive but it is labor-intensive

For workers health manual sorting must be capsulated

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Plastic sorting

Automatic sorting by Near Infrared Technique (NIR)

Position and material characterisation are scanned per Infrared

Sensors notice the different reflections by the different plastics

Computers analyse the data and direct blast pipes which remove the plastics pneumatically from the belt

Rennes, November 2001 – ISWA / Cemagref

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Sorting of Light Weight Fraction and Paper in Augsburg