Machinex to deliver new 30 ton-per-hour residential single stream system to the City of Phoenix

Machinex has partnered with the City of Phoenix, Arizona, to deliver a 30 ton per hour (TPH) residential single-stream system in 2023. This project is part of the City of Phoenix's circular economy and waste diversion initiatives which includes diverting a majority of recyclables away from its landfill, with the objective of achieving zero waste by 2050. To become a circular, zero-waste, and carbon-neutral urban area, the City of Phoenix focuses on five key pillars: reduce, reuse, recycle, reconsider, and reimagine.

Machinex will contribute to the City of Phoenix's objective of achieving zero waste by 2050 and transitioning to a circular economy by providing a new single-stream system to achieve remarkably higher recyclable recovery rates. As Phoenix's project requirements include very demanding standards for throughput and sorting quality, Machinex took up the challenge and designed a materials recovery facility (MRF) to fit into the zero waste policy, to save resources and preserve the environment. 

The MRF is designed to sort recyclable materials such as paper, cardboard, HDPE, PET, PP, mixed plastics, and glass coming from the Phoenix's residential curbside collection program, with a processing capacity of more than 10,000 tons per month. To achieve such requirements, advanced sorting technology equipment with interconnectivity was necessary to reach high recovery rates without compromising the throughput. 

This recycling system, entirely designed and equipped by Machinex, includes a MACH Trommel, two MACH Ballistic separators, a SamurAI sorting robot, and multiple MACH Hyspec optical sorters to clean papers and fibres while also capturing plastics. To maximize recovery rates while offering higher security for sorters, a MACH Trommel is located at the beginning of the system, before the pre-sort station, to divert small fractions. This allows the smaller fractions to be handled separately, while reducing the material burden depth at pre-sort, making for a safer and more efficient sorting position. The small fractions pass immediately by two optical sorters, at the front of the system after the Trommel to immediately target small plastics and fibre. The remaining optical sorters within the system clean paper and captures targeted PET, HDPE, and PP. Finally, two MACH Hyspec located at the end of the sorting line optimize recovery by capturing any remaining recoverable materials, while cleaned paper goes to a quality control station. The SamurAI sorting robot with integrated AI is performing quality control on plastics. The system has also been designed such as additional robots can be easily added for future needs. 

Machinex's approach to splitting the stream and addressing each fraction separately helps ensure that this system will reach the high recovery rates requested while maximizing the recovery of valuable materials to close the loop and contribute to the Phoenix's zero waste goal. 

"Having worked with the City [of Phoenix] for a number of years in different roles, I'm very familiar with the City of Phoenix's history of innovating around the recycling program" said Will Herzog, Machinex's western region sales manager. "The City built one of the first single-stream recycling systems in the U.S. back in the early 1990s, and this new investment will push the City's recycling program back to the forefront of recycling technology and material recovery. We can't wait to get started on this project!"

"We are pleased to be working with Machinex on this exciting project," said Rick Peters, deputy director of public works for the City of Phoenix. "When operational, this new recycling facility will integrate the latest technologies, including numerous optical sorters, to maximize material recovery while producing high quality commodities. The new facility is designed to be flexible and adaptable making Phoenix resilient to market and commodity changes over the next 20 years. We also expect this facility to be a great resource to educate students and residents on the value and importance of recycling."