Machinex partners with Pratt Industries for MRF upgrades

Machinex, Plessisville, Quebec, has announced the completion of upgrades at two single-stream material recovery facilities (MRFs) in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Duncan, South Carolina. These two projects resulted from a tight and efficient collaboration with Pratt Industries, Atlanta, according to the systems provider.  

According to a news release from Machinex, upgrades started in June 2021 at the Duncan location. This single-stream system needed to replace its rubber disc polishing screen and increase throughput capacity without adding additional sorters to handle around 15,000 tons of recyclables per year. The system was redesigned to sort materials from curbside collection using equipment such as a Mach Ballistic separator and two Mach Hyspec optical sorters to sort fiber, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE).  

The upgrade in Fayetteville was completed in August 2021. Pratt wanted to recover more HDPE and PET with the upgrade, which also involved adding a quality control station on its aluminum line to recover used beverage cans. The upgraded system includes a Mach Ballistic separator, two Mach Hyspec optical sorters to eject PET, 3D fiber and mixed paper. It is designed to process 20,000 tons of material annually. The upgrade aims to improve the uptime, recovery and capacity at the MRF. 

"Machinex worked very closely with our team to ensure that the design and components of the upgrades accomplished our objectives,” says Kurt Schmitz Sr., vice president of Pratt Recycling.