Germany-based Vecoplan says modular design and customized components can help recyclers tackle an ever-widening materials stream.

The world’s product and packaging designers are busy introducing new items that eventually will be discarded for recycling. To Germany-based shredding equipment manufacturer Vecoplan AG, that circumstance provides a reason to offer new varieties of shredders.

At the same time, the equipment maker says recycling plant operators can be wary of complications that can add to training or component replacement costs.

Thus, Vecoplan says it has “taken a fresh look” at its shredding machines and standardized the interfaces. Users also now can take advantage of a modular system that will handle a wide range of materials, the company adds.

Manufacturers of shredding equipment have long had to deal with special customer requirements in the recycling sector. That provides a reason, according to Vecoplan, to modify components such as rotors, cutting tips, counter knives and screens to match a given task.

These choices and the relevant combinations are critical to the performance and quality of the shredding process, Vecoplan states. One user may have to process especially tough materials while another might require electric motors that comply with specific standards in its operating region.

The design effort for such diverse solutions can be considerable, and manufacturers must keep an increasing number of different parts in stock in order to be prepared, the company adds.

In response, Vecoplan says it has modified its product architecture and established different system platforms depending on the application and size. It has also classified separate modules according to their specific function.

The interfaces used by operators, though, are standardized and the platforms remain unchanged, says the firm. “Application engineers can put together suitable products according to each customer’s needs, much in the way vehicle manufacturers use a configurator,” states Vecoplan.

A shredder buyer or operator can select appropriate modules for the screen, the rotor and the drive. Each module is available in different variants and can be combined as needed with other assemblies, according to Vecoplan.

Components such as cutting tools, counter knives, screens and rotors have been organized in a grid with uniform module sizes. The Vecoplan grid allows shredders to vary in width by small increments from 800 millimeters to more than 3,200 millimeters (31 inches to 10.5 feet).

Vecoplan debuted its modular system on its VIZ shredder line at a trade fair in Germany in 2019. It says it is extending the principle to its entire range of shredding machines and plans to present several platforms in the months ahead. The company also is planning additions at the module level to make its shredders more versatile for buyers to be “perfectly matched to their needs.”

“A wide range of tool sizes and types can be mapped within this grid without the need to change the designs of adjoining components,” says Vecoplan, which also is applying a similar grid idea to other components such as drives.

Thanks to this grid principle, Vecoplan can design custom solutions within the spectrum while at the same time maintaining a manageable degree of complexity, the company says. “There is no need to start from scratch with the design, and no time-consuming special solution is necessary."

When a user decides to purchase a new machine adapted to its requirements, Vecoplan can tailor a shredder faster and manufacture it immediately, claims the company. As the grid concept takes hold, customers also benefit from even faster parts availability thanks to streamlined warehousing, adds Vecoplan.

Retrofitting remains an option for “the various modules,” according to Vecoplan, allowing the machine’s functionality to be adapted to changing requirements.

J&B Recycling's most recent upgrade further improved quality and increased capacity.

Altshausen, Germany-based Stadler designed and built a dry mixed recyclables sorting plant in Hartlepool, United Kingdom, for J&B Recycling in 2008 and has since supported the company in a continuous improvement of the plant.

“We continually improve the plant, and our focus is producing the best quality material possible,” says Matt Tyrie, operations director at J&B Recycling.

The composition and density of the material stream are evolving constantly. “Over the years, the amount of cardboard has significantly increased,” says Benjamin Eule, director at Stadler UK Ltd. “Sorting plants are receiving bigger volumes of packaging generated by the growth of online shopping and deliveries. Another change that is having an impact is the switch to different printing techniques in magazines, which makes it more difficult to separate the ink from the fiber. Plastic packaging is also changing, with multilayers, and bottles with different types of sleeves resulting in detection becoming more challenging. Metals have also evolved since we first designed the plant in 2008, with a shift from aluminum to ferrous metal in drinks packaging, and the increasing volumes of coffee capsules which contain aluminum.”

For this reason, sorting plants must be able to process multiple materials flexibly while delivering the consistently high purity rates demanded by the recycling industry, Stadler says. The plants’ designs also need the flexibility to accommodate subsequent upgrades and modifications to meet the changing requirements.

Eule says, “The J&B Recycling plant was originally designed to process 12 [metric tons per] hour, with Stadler trommel screens, conveyors and ballistic separator taking care of the mechanical presorting, preparing the material flow for effective downstream processing. Conveyors make sure that the material is sent efficiently to the next sorting process and bunker storage conveyors hold the product before being baled.”

In 2017, J&B Recycling and Stadler worked together on a concept to remove paper and aluminum, adding a Tomra Autosort optical sorter and an eddy current separator.

Since then, six additional upgrades have further optimized the plant to meet evolving market demands. The latest upgrade, completed in March, aimed to achieve even higher paper purity and to increase capacity to 15 metric tons per hour.

“We installed a further optical sorter, the latest Autosort sorter, to remove film, plastic bottles and cardboard from the PAMS (newspapers, periodicals and magazines) fraction to achieve a 95 percent purity paper,” Eule says. “We recirculate the materials we removed into the plant to be reprocessed into their respective streams, increasing the recovery of the plant.”

“The upgrade has hit the targets we outlined, that is improve quality, reduce labor costs and increase throughput,” says Matt Tyrie, operations manager at J&B Recycling. “We have increased the quality of our hard mix grade by adding a laser object detection (LOD) system to the Autosort optical sorter to remove more nonfiber contamination. This technology allows each shift to run with reduced labor, and it has allowed the throughput to increase, as the quality of the hard mix was a bottleneck on the plant.

“In all the years we have worked with Stadler, the quality of their product and their ability to hit deadlines on the install stand out,” Tyrie adds. “We really appreciate the excellent planning of the projects and their ability to turn ideas and drawings into reality.”

A dosing drum feeds the material, which goes through a presort platform for the manual removal of old corrugated containers (OCC) and large film. A Stadler screening drum separates the remaining material into three fractions: fines, midsize and oversize.

The oversize materials, measuring more than 170 millimeters, or 7 inches, go through a quality control cabin and an Autosort to remove mixed paper, cardboard and plastics and produce a PAMS fraction.

The midsize fraction, smaller than 17 millimeters, or 7 inches, is separated into fines, 2D and 3D fractions by the Stadler STT2000 ballistic separator. The 2D flat fraction is processed through eddy current separators and Autosort optical sorter before a final quality control check to produce two streams: mixed paper and metals. The 3D rolling fractions follow a similar process, which begins with and overband magnet, to produce mixed plastic, high-density polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate fractions. Fines are being processed to remove contaminants to create a glass product. All the output fractions, with the exception of glass, are baled and sold, according to Stalder.

The company says the acquisition expands its footprint and adds trucks and containers to its fleet.

DTG Recycle, Mill Creek, Washington, has announced the acquisition of Cascade Recycling's assets for an undisclosed price. Cascade Recycling provides and services recycling containers and operates a recycling facility in the Puget Sound region in Washington. 

This is the eighth acquisition in eight months for DTG, which says the purchase expands its footprint in the south Puget Sound. With facilities located throughout the Puget Sound region, DTG Recycle serves its customers while minimizing its carbon footprint.   

The purchase also significantly adds to DTG Recycle’s hauling capacity with an addition of more than 950 containers and a large trucking fleet.  

DTG Recycle welcomes the addition of Cascade Recycling employees. DTG Recycle says it offers DTG University, DTG commercial driver's license school and other benefits that provide security and growth opportunities to its employees.

Nearly 200 WM workers affiliated with Teamsters Local 396 voted in favor of a strike due to an ongoing stalemate in contract negotiations.

Sanitation workers serving the cities of Corona, Eastvale and Narco, California, as well as the surrounding Inland Empire, have threatened a walkout if their employer, Houston-based WM, does not come to terms with a new collective bargaining agreement.

As reported by MyNewsLA.com, nearly 200 WM workers affiliated with Teamsters Local 396 voted in favor of a strike due to an ongoing stalemate in contract negotiations.

According to the Teamsters, the most recent collective bargaining contract expired in April, and little has been done since to achieve a new agreement with unionized employees seeking increased wages and benefits.

The impacted WM workers operate sanitation trucks in multiple cities throughout Riverside County and San Bernardino County. However, most unincorporated areas of Riverside County are not covered by Teamsters Local 396, nor are the municipalities in the eastern half of the county.

The Teamsters complain that while the company’s CEO, Jim Fish, has received higher compensation in 2021, frontline personnel “have not received commensurate salary adjustments.”

“Teamsters at Waste Management across San Bernardino and Riverside Counties are sending a strong message that they are ready to do whatever it takes to secure a fair contract,” Local 396 Secretary and Treasurer Ron Herrera told MyNewsLA.com. “Waste Management needs to take negotiations seriously to ensure that these essential heroes, who work hard to keep our cities clean and protect our environment, get a fair contract.”

Waste Today has reached out to WM for comment regarding the potential strike. 

Company’s chief operating officer Tom Emmerich offers his insight in recent radio interview.

Tom Emmerich, the chief operating officer of Kalamazoo, Michigan-based Schupan and president of its Schupan Recycling business unit, says policymakers in his home state have room to make changes that can increase its recycling volume and rate.

In the interview with Russ White of East Lansing, Michigan-based National Public Radio affiliate WKAR, Schupan was asked several questions about the health of recycling in Michigan.

Emmerich tells the radio station Schupan has its roots in industrial scrap metal recycling and now has five business units, with Schupan Recycling focusing on beverage container recycling in a state that has a deposit-return system, or bottle bill. Emmerich describes that business unit by saying, “We handle a large percentage of all the containers in the state of Michigan.”

When asked about municipal or curbside recycling in Michigan, Emmerich says, “Do we lag other states? We absolutely do. We have like an 18 percent municipal and recycling rate. That’s up a couple percentage points, but it still lags behind the Minnesotas and Wisconsins and a couple other Midwestern states.”

In terms of beverage container recycling, he adds, “We have relied on the deposit law as our marquee recycling program in Michigan, and it’s been incredibly successful. There’s no reason to look at changing that.”

Recycling in Michigan overall, however, could benefit from a funding boost or policy changes, Emmerich says. “It really comes down to funding,” he said of boosting the 18 percent recycling rate. “How much money is the state willing to put back? And mandates. Michigan has really no mandates on banning certain things from landfills. Other states do. The states that do have much higher recycling rates.”

On the policy front, Emmerich says, “I testified for two different bills, House Bill 4443 and House Bill 4444. Those bills were pretty much introduced by the beverage community where they are looking for a half-cent per container income tax credit that would help them invest back into the deposit system. Distributors are responsible for the program. A lot of people don’t understand that. Since day one, they initiate the deposit. They’re required to pick the containers up at retail and properly recycle them.”

Noting that Schupan Recycling is “hired” to “help them with that process,” Emmerich adds, “As costs have gone up over the years and money was taken away from distributors back in the early to mid-90s. They haven’t asked for a penny from the state to help them with infrastructure costs. Our costs are up well over 25 percent in the last five or six years.”

In the case of Schupan, Emmerich says the company needs to make “a significant investment in our Wixom [Michigan] operation that we built 16 years ago. If we don’t, then the cost of maintenance is just going to go up and our ability to service retailers and the consumer is going to go down, and nobody’s going to be happy with that.”

A transcript of the interview between White and Emmerich can be found here.