Agenda - Council - 10/14/1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

- 11 - Component separation is a necessary operation in the recovery of energy from solid wastes. The required separation may be accomplished manually or mechanically. When manual separation is used, preproces- sing of the wastes is not required. In most mechanical techniques some form of size reduction, such as shredding, is required as a first step (see "Waste Processing"). The basic methods for waste separation include use of recycling centers, source separation, picking and mechanical separation. 1. RECYCLING CENTERS This type of material recovery system is currently widespread throughout the Metropolitan Area. Recycling centers are either operated as drop-off depositories, taking in one or more types of recyclable material, or as redemption centers where cash is paid for the more valuable materials rsuch as aluminum_or corrugated cardboard. Typically the neighborhood drop-off centers are or- ganized an~ operated by nonprofit civic or church groups. Re- demption centers are combined with existing metal salvaging facilities or actual secondary materials markets and are operated as profit-making businesses. Recently there has been an emergence of new aluminum redemption facilities in the Region because of the increasing market price and intent of the beverage container industry to provide an alternative to potential mandatory deposit legislation. There are currently 135 recycling centers in the Region listed in the Metropolitan Council's May 1980 edition of the Recycle It! directory. Approximately 70 percent of these are operated by non- profit organizations. There is no reliable data concerning the total quantity of materials processed.by these facilities. How- ever, it is reasonable to assume that the vast majority of mate- rials recycled from municipal waste in the Region are handled by recycling centers. The balance is accounted for by personal reuse, used furniture and clothes exchanges, and other similar recycling systems. 2. SOURCE SEPARATION Source separation is defined as the separation of materials for individual storage at the source of generation for later pick-up and processing or reuse. Source separation is a very-effective materials recovery system because of its inherent flexibility and cost-effectiveness. It differs from most other forms of solid waste processing in that it is decentralized and relies heavily on the continuous participation of the individual generator. There are many types of source separation, including office paper recycling programs, mandatory or voluntary curb-side pickup of recyclables complementing mixed municipal refuse collection, leaf pickup (see "Resource Recovery") and other commercial and indus- trial programs aimed at specific materials. There are currently several aggressive but relatively limited source separation prc- grams in the Region. Several paper processing firms have ongoing