Machinex recognized as Recycling Equipment Innovator of the Year by the NWRA

Machinex has received the Recycling Equipment Innovator of the Year award announced by the National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA). This accolade recognizes the "next-generation MRF," an innovation installed at the Sherbourne Resource Park in Coventry, United Kingdom. 

The Recycling Equipment Innovator of the Year award was open to recycling equipment designers and manufacturers across North America who successfully challenged and advanced recycling sector operations. It celebrates innovation in design and manufacturing that increases the effectiveness or efficiency of recycling equipment and operations. 

Machinex designed, manufactured, and installed this sorting system featuring 19 SamurAI sorting robots, 14 optical sorters (including 13 MACH Hyspec optical sorters), a MACH Vision stream composition analyzer, and multiple MACH INTELL platforms facility-wide. This fully integrated solution ensures ultimate efficiency in an innovative recycling facility. Achieving performance levels of up to 99 percent purity and over 98 percent recovery is not the result of a single technology or piece of equipment but rather a carefully optimized turnkey sorting system integrating dozens of proprietary technologies. 

Working in partnership with Sherbourne Recycling Limited, the objective was clear: to design a highly automated MRF achieving high product quality while maintaining sustainability. In designing the Sherbourne Resource Park, Machinex pushed the boundaries of its previous work and innovated beyond existing designs. 

The purity levels achieved mean that reclaimed materials are processed locally rather than exported as lower-grade materials to other countries. Data shows a notable enhancement in recycling efficiency and effectiveness to maintain a 95 percent plant and equipment availability. 

"This year's awardees represent a shift to a circular economy embracing more reuse, reduction and recycling," said NWRA President and CEO Michael E. Hoffman. "Through their innovative design, modernized facilities, education programs and dedication to finding new and more ways to reuse waste, the industry is leading economically viable solutions to a circular economy."