Dive Brief:
- ReCommunity Recycling and public sector partner Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southwest Oakland County will rebuild their Southfield, MI materials recovery facility that was shut down after a fire in 2014.
- The facility should reopen in early 2016. ReCommunity said it has ordered the new Bollegraaf processing system, which will include optical sorting and ballistic separation technologies to maximize quality and efficiency.
- RRRASOC, which helps manage resource recovery for seven communities in Oakland County, has funded the construction and will partner with ReCommunity to help install the new processing system.
Dive Insight:
The partnership is essential to getting the plant up and running. "We are pleased to be able to partner with RRRASOC and reinvest in the Detroit market area MRF," said ReCommunity President Sean Duffy. "We have had a long-standing partnership with the authority, and their willingness to co-invest to rebuild the recycling facility is critical to our future together."
Many materials recovery facilities are operating or opening in states across the nation, including California, North Carolina, and Minnesota. While MRFs are crucial to ensure that recyclable materials are being disposed of properly, there are many improvements that can be made industry-wide to ensure that the sorting of materials is being handled efficiently.