MRF(Materia

ls Recovery
Facility)
Prepared by: Benedict S.
Marzan

Definition
Materials Recovery Facility
(RA 9003) - a facility designed to receive, sort, process, and

store compostable and recyclable materials efficiently and

in an environmentally sound manner.

(WIKIPEDIA) - a specialized plant that receives, separates

and prepares recyclable materials for marketing to enduser manufacturers.

Waste Management Statistics

The Philippines generates about 10,000 million tons of solid waste per

year and only 12 percent of the waste is recycled and re-used.

The barangay is responsible for the segregation of waste at source,

collection of biodegradable and recyclable components and setting up of a

materials recovery facility (MRF). There are about 976 MRFs nationwide.
41,392 barangays, 1502 municipalities, 116 cities and 71 provinces

nationwide.
MRF is considered as the heart and soul of ecological waste

management. The MRF is a place where wastes are either made into
compost and/or recycled. In essence, it is important place because this is
where marketable products out of waste are stored. (from RA 9003)

A successful MRF has five key

elements ESWM which are;
1) Engineering-appropriate processing equipment sand design and
technically viable and environmentally sound recycling and reuse process;
2) Education-effective promotion, information and education campaign for
segregation, collection and compliance to ordinances;
3) Enforcement-Ordinances with IRR that will enable and empower
enforcers and implementers;
4) Environmental Organization supportive ESWM Board and LGU,
adequate information on LGU profile and waste characterization for
effective planning and projections;
5) Equity-financially viable management and operation from production to
marketing, availability of support and start-up fund.

MRF in the Philippines

ANYAREEEEE????????

Materials recovery facilities (MRFs) were

established in different barangays (community

or village) of the Philippines to recover
recyclable materials from municipal solid waste.
Required under the Ecological Solid Waste

Management Act of 2001, these facilities were

constructed out of local funds, grants, and loans
but have attained only a LIMITED DEGREE OF
SUCCESS.

So what is lacking in the

implementation of this
project????

This condition is attributed to the lack of, or incomplete,

understanding of the basic aspects of MRFs in terms of design,

construction, and operations, as well as the parameters for a
successful and sustained operation.

 This tool kit provides a simple and

practical document that serves as a

basic reference for local
government units and the private
sector in establishing and operating
an MRF.

It also serves as an aid for financing

institutions in evaluating loan or

grant applications for the said solid
waste management facility.

Prepared using mostly Philippine

data, the document can be

applicable to developing countries
with similar socioeconomic and
waste management conditions.

Republic's Newby Island MRF

Republic Services officially opened its new

materials recovery facilityin August 2012.

It is located in the 342-acre Newby Island Resource Recovery Park

(NIRRP), which is in San Jose,California, US.

It is claimed to be the world's largest multi-stream recycling facility.

It is spread over five floors and was built with an investment of

$55m.

The plant is capable of handling the waste generated by the region

until 2027. It will process waste produced by nearly 8,000

businesses in the city of San Jose. It will also processrecyclables
including organics from 85,000 homes in the region.

Construction of San Jose MRF

Republic Services operated an 80,000 square feet recycling

plant at the NIRRP until January 2012.

Bulk Handling Systems was contracted to design,

manufacture and install the highly automated system at

the renovated plant. By 2015, solar and wind utilities will
be installed at the plant to reduce its environmental
impact.

Garbage and
Recyclable
Collection
All of San Jos's garbage and
recyclables are collected by
automated trucks which lift heavy
carts and bins with mechanical arms
or lifters. When the trucks are full,
drivers take garbage to a landfill,
recyclables to a
materials recovery facilityfor
sorting, and yard trimmings to a
composting facility.

Click icon to add picture

MRF mechanism
The Materials Recovery Facility uses single stream

technology to automatically sort the paper, plastic, cans,

and glass collected at curbside in San Jos.

Waste generated by the San Jos region is separated into

four distinct streams including organics, commercial dry

waste, commercial single-stream and residential singlestream. Traditionally discarded waste also needs to be
recovered in order to achieve an 80% recovery rate.

A system of belts, screens, electromagnets, and blasts of

air separate paper, plastics, glass, aluminum, and other

materials.

Benefits of MRF
The city of San Jose awarded a 15-year waste management contract to

Republic Services as part of its Green Vision initiative.

The initiative, which was announced in 2007, focuses on addressing the

waste generated by the city and reducing the volume of landfill by 2022.

The system also processesrecyclablesfrom 85,000 households and has

the capacity to process 420,000 tons of material annually.

This development follows the announcement that the world's largest

energy-from-wastegasification facilityis set to open in Teesside in

2015.

The NIRRP is considered a one-stop shop with a recycling facility

capable of sorting thousands of tons of mixed wet and dry

materials, an onsite clean natural gas fueling station and many
other sustainable features.

REALIZATION:
So what can we do as future Environmental
Engineers to give back the benefits we have
received from our environment?

Thank you for listening!