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We have not invited a new dance nor were we “accidentally passing a fourth floor bedroom” but bounce and trommel is the order of the day at Visy Recycling Springvale Recycling Depot [MRF], visited by members of the Australian Institute of Packaging [AIP] as their March 2009 education program.

Originally established to sort paper and cardboard for Visy Paper Mills at around 100 tonnes a day it was re-engineered into a MRF which sorted commingled material as well as paper and cardboard. Knox City Council was Visy Springvale’s first contract to deliver recyclables into the MRF, using the split bin system. [Split bins system was very inefficient and superseded by a fully open version]

In the mid 1990s, Visy expanded its commercial recycling sector and Springvale MRF began to receive up to 350 tonnes per day and has grown that significantly. The Springvale facility now has nine councils as sources of kerbside recyclables as well as pre-sorted materials from intermediate collection depots.  In 2007/08, Visy Recycling received and sorted just over 2 million tonnes of used industrial and post – consumer waste across Australia.

The Springvale MRF has only half the hourly capacity of the Mega MRF at Smithfield NSW but contributes a significant percentage of the aforementioned two million tonnes collected from around three [3] million households nationally. In the early days of kerbside recycling plastic crates nominally held approximately 5kg of material; switching to 240 litre wheelie bins ramped up the average per household collection by a factor of two.

In 2006, Visy Recycling Springvale invested $4 million to upgrade its plastic sorting technology to include an NIR (near infra red) auto sort facility. This innovative sorting technology makes it possible to automate separation of different plastic polymer types, eliminating the requirement for manual sorters and increasing the recovery of all plastics.

The plastic material input stream is analysed by a fast scanning sensor installed over a conveyor belt. When illuminated, each material reflects light (invisible to the human eye). In the same way that a finger print is a unique source of reference, the characteristics conveyed by the reflected light are unique for every different type of material. The optical sensor captures this reflection and generates a two-dimensional image, which in turn enables the software to efficiently determine the type of plastic. It then blows the defined plastic onto a second conveyor while the remaining is brought to a third belt for further sorting or disposal followed by baling of individual product types.

Currently the MRF operates 24/7, receives material from 9 Victorian Councils, processes approximately 500 tonnes a day of fully commingled material from kerbside and over 350 tonnes a day of paper and cardboard from industry sources.  Our host Kate Partridge amongst other things visits schools and other groups to explain the dos and don’ts required to reduce the volume of non-recyclables that go to landfill.

Overall waste to landfill percentage is approximately 8.5% made up of the things that householders erroneously chuck in the recycling bin!

Kerbside and industrial collections are promoted as being good for the environment and the data provided by Visy reinforces the party line but also adds credence. In the financial year ending 30 June 2008 the environment benefited significantly. The tonnes Visy recycled in the 07/08 financial year, saved nearly six million cubic metres of landfill space, 1.08 million tonnes of CO2e was abated which is the equivalent of almost 260,000 motor cars permanently removed from roads. The recycling of these materials saved enough electricity to light just over 165,000 households for one year and enough water to fill just over 14,000 Olympic swimming pools.

Inbound and outbound logistics involves around 250 truck movements a day and covers the movement of co-mingled, pre-sorted and the final product bound either for local or export markets.

Overall Visy has invested AUD$46 million in upgrading recycling facilities and indications are that the process of upgrade will be ongoing. Whilst impressive, the semi-automated MRF is still quite labour intensive and no doubt research and development dollars will be sought to bring further automation to the manual processes and to find other markets and means to use the residual portion now going to Landfill.

Although the emphasis during the visit was on plastics, paper is the winner in the recycling stakes followed by glass, plastics and metal. All of these materials start in a mountain of rubbish and pass along three bounce and several flat conveyors and through four trommel stations each specific to the material to be captured on their way to another life.

Ralph Moyle the Victorian President of AIP thanked our hosts and provided them with a gift. The packaging of which is 100% recyclable. He commented that the visit was over subscribed but Visy had graciously allowed for a second contingent to visit.

Written by Michael B Halley FAIP
Australian Institute of Packaging

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