For many MRFs, having multiple balers might not be enough to maintain operations if one goes down and the other is unable to match it in speed or be able to handle various materials.
Balers often are looked at as the heart of a recycling system, yet many in the industry agree they frequently can be overlooked when planning and designing material recovery facilities (MRFs). During a webinar at last year’s MRF Operations Forum, one expert even referred to the equipment as an “afterthought.”
Unfortunately, the minimal attention paid to balers has created a lack of what has become known as “baler redundancy.” Mark Neitzey, director of sales at Van Dyk Recycling Solutions, Norwalk, Connecticut, says having a backup baler is a good first step to achieving true baler redundancy, but several other factors should be considered if a MRF is to avoid operational bottlenecks.
Neitzey says many MRF operators overlook the bigger picture of what having true baler redundancy means for their facilities. Often, he says, operators view their second baler as a secondary piece of equipment, particularly if they’re only baling a few tons per hour.
“Any plant needs two equal-performing balers, so if one of them goes down the other one can pick up the slack,” Neitzey says. “It gets overlooked by people buying equipment for their facility. … For a little bit more money, if you bought two of the exact same baler—and they don’t have to be the exact brand or the exact model, but they have to have the [same] capabilities and capacity—you [avoid slowdowns].”
He uses the example of a delivery business, saying that if you had to load a certain amount of material into one of two different trucks and move it from Cleveland to Chicago, and one of your trucks broke down, you’d still want to be able to make the delivery happen with the other truck. “If one of your trucks breaks down, and you have a 1973 Ford Pinto as your other truck, that’s a problem.”
For a MRF to establish true baler redundancy, operators should consider several factors:
Neitzey says most MRFs typically have two balers—one for fiber and one for making dense container bales—and that customers often ask for both a single-ram and two-ram baler for their facilities. He says he doesn’t disagree with facilities having a single- and two-ram baler, but to achieve true baler redundancy, the equipment must have the same speed for all commodities and a conveyor system capable of handling all the material. “That’s not as easy as you think, and it’s not as common as you think,” he says.
Neitzey adds that if one machine moves quickly and the other moves slowly, the plant will slow way down if one of the balers stops working altogether. “We’re trying not to miss a beat if one of the balers goes down. That’s the common theme,” hesays.
Typically, the advantage with a single-ram baler is the ability to achieve higher throughput on certain grades of fiber, and the advantage with a two-ram is that a MRF is able to achieve a higher-density bale at a slower speed than a single-ram, according to experts who spoke with Recycling Today in 2020. But Neitzey says those stereotypes need to be broken. “The balers are now tied to these systems, meaning the system can only work as fast as the baler can work,” he says. “So those balers need to be able to handle every commodity. Both balers need to handle every commodity and not miss a beat and maintain the same speed.”
But, Neitzey says, none of this can be achieved if a facility does not plan for a backup baler. Of the facilities he’s seen, he says approximately 90 percent have a second baler, but not necessarily baler redundancy. He adds that while any level of redundancy is a good thing for a MRF, “if you don’t already preplan to have a second baler put in, you’re going to really [have your] hands tied behind your back.”
Neitzey advises visiting other facilities and asking operators what happens if one of their balers go down. Some questions include: Do you have to slow the line down if a baler goes down? If so, how much do you have to slow the line down? Why do you have to slow the line down? What would you have done differently?
“Show me how every grade needs to be baled because usually there’s 10 different things that need to be baled,” Neitzey says. “Show me how they all get to both balers. Even if it’s an emergency and you only do it five times a year, how does [it function] those five times a year? Are you running at 25 percent? At 50 percent? Are you able to run it at 100 percent? It gets overlooked in almost every design, or it’s a budget cut and it shouldn’t be.
He adds, “This is a $20-million decision. Take a couple extra weeks and go see other facilities. … People get focused on what they’re doing and they don’t go and see just even close by what others are doing. … Just ask basic questions.”
The marketplace connects shippers with freight forwarders.
Slxchange.com, a digital platform for cargo and logistics, gives shippers access to the services of freight forwarders, enabling cost-competitive handling of their cargo, according to the company.
"Our objective is to create a portal that gets customers and carriers on the same platform," says lssam Amin, co-founder and CEO, SLxchange.com. This will give shippers the option to choose from the numerous carrier services and forwarders, while shipping companies and carriers will have the opportunity to generate more business, he says.
Amin says the company’s easy-to-use portal and advanced technology help shippers find forwarders who can handle their shipments at the most competitive rates.
Owned and operated by Smart Logistics Solutions, Dubai, United Arab Emirate., SLxchange.com operates globally, providing end-to-end solutions on a single portal and guaranteeing the privacy of personal data, protection of financial transactions and strict adherence to customs laws through a global network of forwarders and carriers.
"The global logistics industry is constantly evolving, and SLxchange.com is designed to be a neutral marketplace and provide a mutually beneficial platform that helps shippers find the most qualified and certified freight forwarders along with providing carriers [the opportunity] to expand their footprint,” Amin says.
The company has purchased Premier Waste Services LLC.
FCC Environmental Services, Houston, has completed its first U.S. acquisition, purchasing Premier Waste Services LLC of Dallas. The company has declined to release the purchase price.
Premier has provided commercial solid waste services in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area for more than 20 years. The company services more than 4,000 contracts with a fleet in excess of 50 vehicles. FCC says the company’s history, strong workforce and customer focus made it a great fit to expand its footprint in Texas.
“This growth is a key driver for our company as we continue to expand our U.S. presence and work to synergize our operations,” says Inigo Sanz, CEO of FCC Environmental Services. “Thus far, all of our growth has been organically driven, and we are excited about this further lever to grow our company and embrace proven service providers like Premier.”
He tells the Recycling Today Media Group that the Premier name will be retained initially.
Sanz says FCC is looking for similar acquisition opportunities, adding that "any other company with a similar profile that Premier could be our next target."
He says FCC is interested in acquiring hauling and processing assets. "[O]ur goal is not only to increase our size but also to improve our vertical integration."
Company’s containerboard capacity to get boost with Virginia mill project.
A three-year strategic update unveiled by Kingsey Falls, Quebec-based Cascades Inc. points to projected growth in the tissue sector from 2022 to 2024 and increased containerboard capacity thanks to its project at the Bear Island mill in Virginia.
The company and its CEO say the update “commits to leveraging the company’s strong asset base and product portfolio to accelerate value creation and improve profitability. The strategy also introduces new financial targets focusing on free cash flow generation and a plan to improve profitability of its tissue group.”
Cascades President and CEO Mario Plourde says, “Our plan aims to generate value for shareholders, accelerate profitability improvement and strengthen our tissue business, all while continuing to prioritize sustainability, which has been at the core of our strategy since we started business."
He continues, “Cascades is an integrated company with strong assets to fuel future profitable growth, and I am confident we have the right team and the right experience to execute on our plan that aims to generate $5 billion of revenue in 2024.”
In packaging, Cascades refers to itself as the sixth-largest containerboard producer in North America, adding that one of its top priorities in that sector involves completing the start-up of the Bear Island mill in the fourth quarter of 2022. The Virginia mill has been planned to have annual production capacity of about 465,000 tons of recycled-content linerboard and corrugated medium.
The ramp-up of that mill, along with “increasing integration with new converting capacity in the United States” and “accelerating the pace of new sustainable product development and commercial launches” has Cascades shooting for combined revenue in its packaging businesses of more than $3.5 billion in 2024.
Cascades says its tissue business “has been particularly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” but that “the tissue market will provide opportunities for growth as the effects of the pandemic subside, and Cascades’ tissue assets are well-positioned to benefit from this recovery.”
The company says it has made significant investments in its tissue operations from 2017 to 2020 and will now be “focusing on production execution and efficiency, particularly in our U.S. operations.” The target, Cascades, says is to achieve revenue of $1.7 billion in 2024.
“Over the last 10 years we have taken a number of important strategic steps to reposition our business and adapt to evolving market dynamics and customer needs,” says Plourde. “I’m proud of the work we have accomplished, and I think that with this renewed vision, we are better equipped than ever to deliver for customers and shareholders.”
California-based Granite Data says its work with Prism Electronics yielded 350,000 pounds of ITAD work last year.
McClellan Park, California-based Granite Data Solutions says its collaboration with another electronics recycling firm allowed the two companies to handle some 350,000 pounds of information technology asset disposition (ITAD) work in 2021.
Granite Data, which refers to itself as a California-certified disabled veteran-owned business, says the two companies have been able to “leverage each other’s core competency to create an efficient green solution for the retirement of their clients’ electronic assets.”
Morgan Hill, California-based Prism Electronics is an R2 (Responsible Recycling), ISO14001 and ISO45001 certified electronics recycling company. Granite Data says throughout 2021, it specialized in client ITAD and life cycle management services for state, local, county and educational clients and worked in collaboration with Prism.
The two companies, by collaborating, “have achieved a secure and environmentally friendly solution for their clients’ retired electronic assets,” Granite Data says in a February news release.
Granite Data says this involved “leveraging an optimized green logistics approach,” with new equipment delivered coordinated with retired equipment loaded for direct delivery to a processing facility or to consolidation at a Granite Data hub for large-volume delivery to Prism.