Single-stream MRF opens in Florida county

When St. Lucie County, Florida, made the decision to switch from dual-stream residential recycling to single-stream recycling, the county also decided to build its own material recovery facility (MRF) to process the collected recyclables. In May 2014, St. Lucie County began single-stream collection, and construction on the MRF was completed in late September of that same year.

According to a news release issued by Machinex, Plessisville, Quebec, the county extensively researched potential equipment suppliers, emailing some of their customers for their opinions. Machinex was the only manufacturer that got a near 100 percent positive response from its respective customers, the company says. While the county had multiple selection criteria, including price and design, these factors favored Machinex.

The system purchased by St. Lucie County is designed to process 15 tons per hour of residential single-stream recyclables and features a drum feeder for loading the system, a Mach OCC (old corrugated containers) Screen, Mach ONP Screen, Mach Finishing Screen, a dual-eject optical sorter for PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and HDPE (high-density polyethylene), a magnet for steel cans, an eddy current for aluminum and a two-ram baler. Oct. 24, 2014, marked the official startup and ribbon cutting ceremony.

Ron Roberts, solid waste division director for St. Lucie County, says, “The Machinex staff was detail oriented throughout the system design, installation, training and startup of the system, and all equipment is performing as designed and guaranteed.”

Machinex says it supplied the county with “aggressive efficiency and purity performance guarantees for every commodity in the system.”

According to Allison Lankow, education and marketing coordinator for the county, the recycling rate in terms of tonnage and participation has increased by more than 50 percent since the introduction of single-stream recycling last May. She adds that the county invested time and money into educating its residents on the recycling program and acceptable items.

Machinex is a leading supplier of recycling sorting systems. Over the years, the company’s experts have designed and installed more than 300 turnkey facilities in partnership with leading MRFs in Canada, the United States and Europe.