Friedman Opens Single-Stream MRF

Friedman Recycling has opened its third MRF, and its first outside of its home of Arizona. The company has opened a MRF in El Paso, Tex., that will handle the curbside collection program for the city of El Paso, Tex. The single-stream collection program officially began April 25. Through the first four days of the collection program Friedman has taken in 1,700 tons of recyclables.

The new facility is 45,000 square feet, with Bollegraaf equipment installed at the site. Morris Friedman, with Friedman Recycling, says that the company received a 15-year contract with the city of El Paso, which allowed the company to build the plant and invest money for equipment to operate. Awarding a contract of this length, rather than a shorter, roll-over contract, allowed the company to make a more sizable investment in the facility.

The move to single stream recycling is a first for El Paso, which, before rolling out the program, had previously only used drop-off sites for its recycling program.

The city of El Paso will handle the collection of the material, while Friedman will handle the processing and marketing of the material.

Material collected through the program will be most of the conventional residentially generated recyclables, with the exception of glass, which will not be collected.

While the focus of the MRF will be handling material collected from the city, Morris Friedman says that the company also will be taking in material from other commercial, business and residential customers. The company also expects to provide some shredding services to go along with its recycling services.

Also, while many skeptics say that the material collected through single stream are fraught with quality problems, so far the material taken in by El Paso is very clean. "They (the city of El Paso) have done a good job in educating its residents," Friedman says.

The company also was able to move fairly quickly on the facility. Friedman was awarded the 15-year contract last February, broke ground on the site this past December, and is now operating, with a May 8 official grand opening set.

The location of the site also is ideal, with direct access to a Union Pacific rail siding and near a number of major arteries.