Recyclables collected throughout the system are transported to various facilities for processing or consolidation and transferred to other processors. The primary facilities that receive and process materials are:
• Marion Resource Recovery Facility (MRRF) - located north of Salem west of I- 5 at the Brooks exit
• Garten Services Inc.- located in Salem
• Far West Fibers, Inc - Materials Recovery Facility located in Hillsboro, Oregon • Oregon Compost - located off Highway 22 in Aumsville
• BI Landfill - located in Salem (accepts yard debris from the City of Salem and County departments for composting)
For this SWMP Update, “processing” of materials means sorting materials and removal of unwanted or dissimilar materials to recover a clean product for sale to a best-use market.
Marion Resource Recovery Facility (MRRF) is owned and operated by the Mid-
Valley Garbage & Recycling Association, a cooperative of the eight franchised collection companies in Marion County. The collection companies that own the MRRF are proactive in the community to promote waste reduction, reuse and recycling. They work closely with Marion County’s staff to coordinate certain aspects of Marion County’s recycling education program.
The facility is located west of I-5 off the Brooks exit on a 5.5 acre parcel with a 36,000 sq ft building that houses process equipment and a sorting line. The facility currently serves two primary functions. First, all commingled recyclable materials collected throughout the County are delivered to the facility. These materials are loaded into larger trailers and transported about 40 miles to FWF, a material recovery facility located in Hillsboro, in Washington County. At the FWF, the commingled stream is processed with equipment and sorters to separate the various materials to be sent to markets.
The second functions of MRRF is to process C/D waste material and select commercial loads for recovery of wood, metal and corrugated cardboard. MRRF reports that it can sort 150 to 200 tons per day of C/D waste and select commercial loads at this facility using a single-shift operation. Certain high graded commercial loads may be delivered to MRRF if they contain large amounts of either corrugated cardboard, wood or paper products that can be readily recovered.
The facility layout allows trucks to dump onto a tipping floor where large bulky materials can be manually sorted. The remaining material is loaded onto a conveyor, and wood, corrugated cardboard, and metal can be sorted and marketed. The facility is set up primarily to process C/D waste and select high graded commercial waste. It may be possible to process different waste streams perhaps with certain equipment modifications. It is not currently capable of processing the commingled recyclable materials.
Table 4.3 presents a summary of the materials received at the MRRF and their destination upon receipt and processing from 2004 through 2007.
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Table 4-3 - Summary Material Flow from MRRF (Tons per Year)
2004 2005 2006 2007
Total Received 60,255 63,670 69,825 71,757 Commingled - FWF 17,692 17,880 19,223 20,196 Processed 42,563 45,790 50,602 51,561 Residual - Coffin Butte Landfill 28,714 30,379 34,824 34,802 Residual - WTEF 2,807 135 632 304 Total Residual 31,521 30,514 35,456 35,106 Recovered/Recycled from Processed 10,229 11,287 12,525 14,715 % Recovered from Processed 23.40% 24.80% 25.00% 28.30%
Source: 2007 Annual Report, Marion County Department of Public Works, Environmental Services Division; supplemental data from Jeff Bickford, PWES Division Manager.
The facility recovers between 25% and 30% of the material that is processed. The primary materials recovered are wood waste (about 85%), metal (7%) and OCC (4%).
Other materials sorted include dry wall, concrete and rubble. MRRF operators report that the facility can process more materials. If necessary, a second shift to sort more material can be added.
In January 2002, Mid-Valley Garbage and Recycling Association entered into a ten- year agreement with FWF and Garten to process materials collected at the curbside. Residential commingled recyclables collected by franchised collection trucks come to MRRF where they are reloaded for delivery to FWF for processing. In this capacity, the MRRF acts as a transfer station to consolidate materials for more efficient transport. Under the agreement, mixed paper sorted out of the commingled material at FWF is back-hauled to Garten for further processing for best-use marketability. The back-haul offsets the transportation cost of the commingled materials to the market areas of Portland.
This agreement is an excellent example of the sustainable business philosophy and practice of Marion County and the companies involved with the County’s waste management system. The past six years have proven this agreement beneficial for all the parties. Negotiations are currently underway to extend the agreement beyond 2012. This agreement, if extended, would provide the available capacity to process all recyclables generated in Marion County for several years. More importantly, the cooperative business environment reduces redundancy and the need to invest large amounts of capital to handle future volumes of recyclable materials.
Garten Services Inc. (Garten) is a private, not-for-profit organization providing
many services to the community and work for adults with disabilities. Garten and is the primary processor/marketer of recyclables from non-commingled collections throughout the County. Garten receives, grades, sorts, bales, and ships mill-ready recyclables through its 120,000-square foot processing facility. The facility receives materials in package lots and in bulk from throughout the County and the state, and
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has shipping access for eight trailers and four rail cars. Garten currently accepts, processes, and markets the following materials:
• Corrugated cardboard • Newspaper
• Multiple grades of office and printing papers (including books and magazines) • Mixed papers and paper packaging (including “greyboard,” aseptics, and milk
cartons)
• Plastic films (polyethylene)
• All clean, rigid plastic containers (bottles, tubs and trays) • Aluminum and tin cans
• Color-separated glass containers • Electronics to refurbish and recycle
Garten receives its recyclable materials from various sources. These sources include local collection companies, private businesses, state and local government offices both inside and outside the County, smaller independent recyclers and franchised collection companies throughout the state. Mixed office papers are received from FWF in a unique three-way partnership. Mixed paper is reloaded at the MRRF and efficiently transported to a FWF. A back-haul provides the Garten facility with mixed office papers that were collected in the Metro Region.
One of Garten’s current efforts in Marion County is to expand the SCOOP program. This program was designed by the partnership between Garten, Marion County, and the franchised collection companies to increase the amount of office paper being recycled by area businesses. The program provides the businesses with educational materials, containers, and collection service. Additionally, Garten has received a grant from Marion County to employ a sourcing representative to visit multi-tenant commercial establishments and encourage cooperation in developing a centralized pick up. This service is designed to coordinate route efficiency with the collection routes of the collection companies that pick up the materials for delivery to Garten. The program features a total mixing of all paper grades in order to save space and increase convenience for the participant.
All paper delivered to Garten is processed to ensure the quality meets purchasing mill standards and then is shipped in unit loads directly to mills in Oregon, other areas in North America, and the Pacific Rim. Electronic recyclables delivered to Garten are also processed. Employees will dismantle computers and other E-waste bi-products to recover materials and to safely ship the residual to other markets for further processing and recovery.
Far West Fibers Inc. (FWF) in Hillsboro is a 67,000-square foot materials recovery
facility opened in 1999.The facility has the capacity to process 12,000 tons of mixed recyclable material per month. The facility was built to respond to the changes in collection of recycled materials from source-separated to a commingled stream. As a result, the plant handles a significant amount of the commingled recyclable materials collected in the Portland area.
In 2007, Marion County shipped an average of 1,700 tons per month of residential commingled material to FWF. The plant has the capacity to process more materials if
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required. There are also several other materials recovery facilities in the Portland metropolitan area that could receive Marion County’s materials if needed.
FWF has been in the recycling business since 1980 and has established market outlets for these materials. By sending the recovered materials from Marion County for processing at FWF, the County has secured the marketing of materials collected in Marion County. Garten also benefits from this arrangement by processing and marketing all of the mixed paper products that are delivered to FWF.
Another important aspect of this arrangement is the overall marketing strategy used by FWF to re-sell recycled fiber to paper mills in Oregon and the northwest. Even though foreign markets may pay a slight premium for these materials, FWF believes supplying recycled fiber to local mills helps retain jobs locally and keeps the markets competitive. These goals are consistent with Marion County.