Montgomery celebrates opening of one of the most advanced MRFs in the U.S.

Residential recycling is coming to the citizens of Montgomery, Alabama in a big way thanks to innovative technology, a progressive collection model and a partnership between the city and Infinitus Energy. A new Advanced Mixed Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), known as IREP at Montgomery, is one of the most advanced recycling facility in the U.S., and is expected to create approximately 110 local jobs and divert up to 80 percent of waste from the landfill.   

Residents will use only one bin for waste and recyclables, an approach that is gaining popularity due to advances in technology, increased collection efficiencies and participation advantages . The system, designed, manufactured and installed by Bulk Handling Systems (BHS), features BHS screen, Nihot air and NRT optical technology that will separate out up to 95 percent of available recyclables at a rate of 30 tons per hour. The system will also recover organic waste for composting.   

“The Infinitus Energy team has delivered a facility that far exceeds the expectations we had upon originally issuing an RFP to help us revive our recycling efforts,” said Montgomery’s Mayor Todd Strange. “They have delivered the most sophisticated technology available in the world today to process our MSW and reduce our operating costs, savings that we estimate could be as high as $1.8 million annually. In addition, this facility will help us achieve recycling rates that will be amongst the highest nationally and put the City of Montgomery at the leading edge of managing solid waste.”   

“The delivery of the Montgomery Advanced Mixed Materials Recovery Facility is an example of how our company is redefining waste through this decade and beyond,” said Infinitus CEO Kyle Mowitz. “Our mission is to deliver an integrated waste model that benefits the residents of a community in two very important ways. First, we bring overall waste programming costs down with no capital investment required from the community. Secondly, we increase overall recovery rates which in turn dramatically boosts landfill diversion rates.   

“Our company is committed to additional investment in technologies to benefit the community both economically and environmentally. Future phases of this project will include further maximization of the organic waste stream through anaerobic digestion (AD) to create a compressed natural gas (CNG) and compost. The citizens of Montgomery should applaud the vision of their government leaders that have contributed to this project’s benefits – benefits that will be realized for years to come.  Along with this leadership, we will continue to deploy advanced technologies to ensure that IREP at Montgomery continues to maximize diversion and value for this community,” Mowitz continued.   

“Recycling has never been more efficient than it is today,” said BHS’ CEO Steve Miller. “Infinitus is on the leading edge with its one-bin model, lowering collection costs while raising participation rates to 100 percent, allowing our equipment the opportunity to recover these valuable commodities that have previously gone to landfill. This is an excellent example of a community ‘closing the loop’ on recovery, by embracing technology to recover not only recyclables, but organic waste as well. The city of Montgomery deserves a lot of credit as an early adopter and environmental leader, an example we project other forward-thinking communities will follow,” Miller concluded. 

Infinitus Energy provides integrated waste processing solutions with economic and environmental benefits for municipalities and companies nationwide. Infinitus Energy specializes in designing, developing, financing, building and operating waste recovery facilities. The company’s Renewable Energy Parks address the multiple challenges posed by the volume of waste deposited into near-capacity landfills across the globe. The Renewable Energy Parks convert waste into profitable resources; maximize high value material recovery at a rate of 95-99 percent with no required capital investment from the supplier of the waste stream; and are turnkey facilities managed and maintained by Infinitus. For more information on Infinitus Energy, also known as I-Energy, visit http://www.infinitus-energy.com   

Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) Headquartered in Eugene, OR, BHS is a worldwide leader in the innovative design, engineering, manufacturing and installation of sorting systems and components for the solid waste, recycling, waste-to-energy, and construction and demolition industries.

The BHS family of companies includes Nihot (Amsterdam) and NRT (Nashville). Clients around the globe choose BHS because of its experience, dedication to cutting-edge technology, quality construction and durability, and unmatched customer service. BHS has built some of the largest and most durable MRFs in the world – and they are achieving the highest throughput, recovery and purity rates in the industry.