In order to manage material movements within the system, municipal waste
is trucked from local communities to one of several satellite transfer stations where it
is off-loaded. The waste stream undergoes an initial gross screening at these satellite
stations to remove such items as kitchen appliances before it is reloaded on transfer
trailers for transportation to the central waste processing facility. This procedure also
enables the arrival time of these tractors to be managed to avoid traffic congestion on
the tipping floor.
The tipping floor and trommel activities provide further separation,
after which materials are transported via a network of conveyors through various stations
that employ magnets to separate ferrous materials, ion separators to remove non-ferrous
metals, shredders and finger screens to remove paper materials, picking stations where
workers remove miscellaneous materials by hand, and compactors and balers to prepare
material for transportation to the landfill or downstream customers.
Further manufacturing, as previously mentioned, employs people and
equipment to separate plastic materials by polymer and thereafter grind, wash, and either
flake or pelletize the plastic material. Glass is processed as furnace-ready cullet or
further ground to be used as sandblasting grit. Papers are further shredded, baled, and
made ready for the repulping market. Aluminum is prepared for smelter customers.
On balance, 44% of the incoming waste stream is processed and prepared
as consumer finished goods, 43% of the incoming waste stream leaves the plant as
manufactured raw materials, and 13% of the waste stream is sent to the landfill in a form
that includes no moisture (thus no subsequent methane generation) and no hazardous
materials which would leach through a landfill liner and contaminate the ground water.
