Midwest Fiber Recycling partners with Amp in MRF update

Midwest Fiber Recycling, a Normal, Illinois-based full-service recycler, has announced plans to partner with Louisville, Colorado-based Amp Robotics to install four additional robotic sorters at its material recovery facility (MRF) in Normal.

Since the opening of the plant in 2011, Midwest Fiber Recycling has seen volumes at the site more than quadruple, processing more than 108 million pounds of recyclable material last year from residents throughout Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.

The company says it expects that growth to continue and, after installing two Amp robotic sorters in 2021, decided to make what it says is a major investment and install four additional robots in January.

“The robots are intended for high-turnover positions in our operation,” Director of MRF Operations Aaron Harmon says. “We expect they will help us improve safety, increase material recovery and reduce contamination through the operation.”

Midwest Fiber Recycling began operations at a single site in Decatur, Illinois, in 1990 and has expanded to include recycling facilities in Normal, Peoria, Springfield, Champaign-Urbana and Terre Haute, Indiana.

Currently, the company has nearly 150 employees processing about 7 million pounds of material every week, offering recycling options for paper, cardboard, plastic, nonferrous metals and single-stream curbside recyclables.