Equipment Spotlight | MAY 2022 Sorting Systems

by MARY M. THORNTON

Equipment used at materials recovery facilities (MRFs) help define the very purpose of an MRF – an essential component in single stream municipality waste operations.

Material brought to the MRF is separated and prepped so it can then be recovered and sold but in any case, is also kept from occupying valuable landfill space. Materials involved typically include plastic, cardboard, paper, glass, metal and cartons. Sorting systems can help in extracting these materials as needed and the following describes some of the sorting products offered by equipment manufacturers.

Action Equipment Company designs, manufactures and installs vibratory equipment for the efficient processing of bulk materials. A key product for sorting is the Dense-Out® vibratory air separator, a rugged vibratory air knife. The conveyor uses air to separate “heavies” from “lights” when processing items such as plastic and paper from glass. The unit can be configured with single or multiple air knives, depending on the level of separation required. An optional Dense-Out addition adds a Taper-Slot® rugged, finger screen at the unit in-feed, which sorts fines from the stream. This product is popular in settings such as construction and demolition recycling, glass cleaning, aggregate cleaning, removing rocks from biomass/hog fuel and auto shredder residue clean up.

“Since 1972, Action has been innovative in bringing vibratory equipment to the next level. Our commitment is to never settle and bring better solutions to a technology that has been around for decades,” Andrew LaVeine, president of Action Equipment stated. The firm’s Sub-Pan Free™ Dense-Out/Taper-Slot screen eliminates the sub pan under screens and so removes one additional, large surface area which could attract wet and sticky material. Instead, screened materials drop directly into a bunker or onto a takeaway conveyor. For many customers that handle problematic materials, this option reduces maintenance and cleaning time.

Bollegraaf Recycling Systems, a multinational manufacturer located in the Netherlands, was founded in 1961. The company has since become a global provider of recycling and waste processing equipment, with expertise in complete state-of-the-art recycling installations. Van Dyk, exclusive North American distributor of Bollegraaf sorting systems, helps waste and recycling processors maximize their profits by supplying equipment solutions via state-of-the-art sorting systems and balers. An MRF designer and equipment supplier in North America since 1984, Van Dyk boasts over 2,400 profitably operating installations. “We supply sorting systems ranging from 10 to 50 tons per hour capacity for the following applications: municipal, single stream, solid, C&D, wood and commercial waste, presorted plastics, glass cleanup, e-waste, waste to energy/fuel, biomass, composting and more. Our key technologies include: Bollegraaf high-capacity balers, optical sorters, starscreens, non-wrapping screens, ballistic separators, density separators, air systems, trommel screens, robotic sorters, shredders, fiber sorting equipment, film recovery systems and more,” stated Mark Neitzey, director of sales.

He continued, “We specialize in turnkey systems and retrofitting outdated plants with the newer, more efficient machinery needed to produce high quality end product from an increasingly contaminated stream. A complete turnkey experience begins with expert design by our in-house technicians, followed by startup training with our specialist team. After installation, Van Dyk provides lifetime customer service that is unmatched in the industry; including 24/7 phone support and same day shipping on spare parts available 365 days of the year.”

In 1996, Tomra pioneered the world’s first high capacity near infrared (NIR) sensor for waste sorting applications in a unit designed to sort and recover beverage containers.

Today, the compact Tomra Autosort® system features a flexible system than can be used across a range of applications, including municipal solid waste, packaging, wood and commercial and industrial waste. The machine can be adapted to belt widths ranging from 1,000 to 2,800 mm (39.4 to 110.2”). Sorting capacities depend on the type of material and belt width, but companies generally run the Autosort system in the 5 TPH range.

Ty Rhoad, regional director Americas for Tomra Recycling, commented, “Sorting circuit automation is key in alleviating challenges faced by recycling facilities. High purity standards in the market make it financially impractical to sort materials manually. MRF plant design is evolving as optical sorting systems move up further in the circuit to optimize sorting of the fiber stream. Our Autosort system has evolved to include a wide range of standard and optional sorting technologies, creating a flexible system that meets the needs of recyclers, both today and in the future. Our integrated standard Sharp Eye technology increases light efficiency while maintaining energy consumption and enhancing sorting sharpness. Also, our Flying Beam® sensing offers better light efficiency, flexible installation and improved detection. Convenient technology add-ons increase system flexibility. Deep Laser delivers deeper sorting sharpness to improve system performance and detects previously undetectable objects like black polymers and glass. Gain uses a deep learn-based sensor to classify objects and sort previously hard-to-sort objects.”

Rhoad noted that along with labor availability issues, “the industry faces ever evolving regulations as purity standards are increasing for most markets worldwide. Also, the supply of quality recycled product is low, making it difficult for producers to meet recycled material targets for their products. Tomra Autosort can play a key role in helping to alleviate these challenges and others, such as sorting complex material fractions.”

Since the start of the year, Tomra has celebrated 50 years in the global recycling and waste management industry and the company has installed more than 8,200 systems in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Published in the May 2022 Edition of American Recycler News