WHAT IS A MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY?A Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) is a depot where the recyclable materials (co-mingled recyclables) that are collected from households and businesses are taken to be sorted into different types or ‘streams’ including glass, aluminium, paper, steel and plastic. In the Campaspe Shire, everything that is put into the yellow-lid recycling bin is transported to the MRF located in Echuca.

Most of the sorting is done by machines however some is done by hand. After the materials have beenseparated into streams, they are bailed up (except glass) and transported to manufacturers, either inAustralia or overseas, where they are reprocessedinto recycled products.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO RECYCLE?One of the most important benefits of recycling is that we recover the raw materials used to make products.It takes a lot of energy and water to extract and refine virgin materials from the earth.

The recovery of some of this energy also helps us reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Not only are resources and energy saved by recycling materials, but the air and water pollution that is generated through the extraction, refinement and processing of rawmaterials is reduced.

Sending recyclable items to landfill is both economically unviable and detrimental to the environment. Despite the benefits of recycling and keeping items out oflandfill, it is more important to try and avoidgenerating waste in the first place.

INSIDE OUR MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY

ECHUCAMATERIALS RECOVERYFACILITY

CLOSING THE LOOP: WHAT HAPPENS TO MATERIALS AFTER THE MRF?At the reprocessing facilities, each recyclable product undergoes a different process to be turned back into products and packaging ready for use. The destination of each ‘stream’ varies and depends on the market, as does the value received for the product.

Cardboard and Paper

Paper millMelbourne

Cardboard boxes, paper

backing for plaster

board etc.

Steel Cans, Tin plate

Various scrap metal recyclers, Australia

Steel products including new cans, steel, beams etc.

Glass (brown, clear and

green)

OI Australia Inc.,

MelbourneNew glass containers

Commons (paper recycled through kerb-side service)

Paper mill,Melbourne

New paper packaging

Local manufacturers, (Greenpipe Moama.

RPM Plastics, Kyabram) and other

plastic brokers.

Irrigation pipes

Food grade pellets

Mixed Plastic

Plastic broker (on shore & off

shore)

Bollards, benches, decking & walkways

Plastic broker (on shore

20% and off shore 80%)

Packaging, film, toys, irrigation pipes, general

commodity items

PET On shore(NSW)

New plastic bottles

AluminiumExported to China and

India

Aluminiumcans,

pots and pans

For more information on recycling,visit www.getitrightbinnight.vic.gov.au

Lifestyle & Opportunity

What Happens To Our Recycling?MATERIAL DESTINATION RECYCLED

PRODUCT

ECHUCA MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY

Front end loader loads material dropped from kerbside into processTromel separates paper and cardboard from everything elseConveyor for paper and cardboardManual removal of non-recyclables andinnapropriate material (eg: bagged items)Bounce belt further separates paper and cardboard from everything else (eg: plastic aluminium, glass)Finishing tromel removes small contamination like broken glass etc.Magnet removes all steel (eg: cans, aerosols)First press presses steel into bales for transport and saleConveyor moves contaminants and small items to waste skip Waste skip containing contamination, or items that the process can’t remove are taken to landfill

Conveyor moves recyclables (glass, plastic, alu-minium) further on in processConveyor moves pre-sort contaminants to waste skip (10) Conveyor moves plastic, glass and aluminium to air classifierAir classifier uses the movement of air toseparate heavy items (glass) from plastic and alu-minium and also removes light contaminants (eg: small pieces of paper) into waste skip (10)Conveyor moves glass bottles for manual sort into three colours (brown, green and clear)Conveyor moves plastic bottles and aluminium to optical sorterOptical sorter sorts plastics into type (HDPE milk bottles, PET, coloured HDPE and mixed) by density using computer optics, lasers and blasts of air

People sort glass into colours and plastics that pass through optical sorter (17)Three separate storage bunkers for glass coloursBunkers for separate plastics (HDPE, PET, coloured HDPE and mixed)Conveyor moves plastics from bunker (20) to press (22) for bailingSecond press bales separated plastics and aluminiumEddy current separates aluminium (cans, tins, aero-sols)Aluminum bunkerConveyor moves aluminium from eddy current to bunkerWaste skip, all material that is either contamination or has not been sorted through the process goes to landfillThird press bales cardboard, paper, and paper materials into either ‘commons’ from the MRF or straight coardboard collected elsewhere

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RECEIVAL PILERecyclables collected from your

yellow-lidded bin

PAPER &CARDBOARD

STEEL

ALUMINIUM

PLASTIC

GLASS

ABOVE Pre-sort (manual): manual removal ofnon-recyclables

BELOW Tromel: separates paper and cardboard from everything else.

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