The Glass Recycling Coalition (GRC) named Murphy Road Recycling as a recipient of a gold-level certification for its All American material recovery facility (MRF) in Berlin, Connecticut. The approximately $40 million single-stream MRF started operations in 2022 and features a state-of-the-art processing system that includes optical sorters, artificial intelligence, and robotics supplied by Van Dyk Recycling Solutions.
The All American MRF also utilizes glass cleaning equipment including a glass breaker, vibrating table screen, secondary fines screen, and vacuum system. The MRF sends its clean glass to processors that convert the material into cullet used for manufacturing glass containers, fine powders that are used in fiberglass insulation, and ground glass used as pozzolan (a cement binder).
The free certification program offered by the GRC recognizes MRFs with additional equipment and operational procedures to clean up glass in both single- and dual-stream systems, resulting in the production of higher-quality and marketable glass.
“Smart and modernized MRFs like All American who that cleaner glass that provides a competitive advantage,” said Scott Mouw, GRC MRF Certification Committee member and senior advisor of strategy and research at The Recycling Partnership. “All American and the other certified facilities in the GRC program demonstrate that MRFs can successfully accept, process, and move high-quality glass to market.”
Murphy Road Recycling, owner and operator of the All American MRF, is continuing to improve the technologically advanced facility and plans to add a magnet to remove additional metals and install a paper removal system to further clean the glass stream.
“Gold MRF glass certification demonstrates our commitment to increasing the amount of material that is truly recycled and made into new products,” said Frank Antonacci, chief operating officer at Murphy Road Recycling. “When the All American MRF was planned, we wanted it to transform the way recyclable materials are processed and sorted – and we are keeping true to that plan with continuous material sorting improvement.”
The GRC MRF Glass Certification program launched in the fall of 2019. In 2022, the glass certification criteria were updated to prioritize end market consistency and more thorough glass cleaning prior to beneficiation. Eligible applications are judged on their current MRF infrastructure and the results of a glass purity test that is aligned with ISRIs Three-Mix Specification. An independent committee scores applications and awards MRFs with either gold, silver, or bronze certification. MRFs holding this certification will have a competitive advantage in the marketplace.