Materials Recovery facilities (MRFs) today are confronted with many challenges, including rising equipment costs, consumer education, worker safety and the push toward single-stream collection. Waste Age recently conducted, via e-mail, interviews with three MRF managers to discuss the specific issues their facilities are facing and how the sites are responding. The participants included:

• Tom Glenn, solid waste program coordinator for Clearwater, Fla.

• Stuart Lee, general manager of transfer station/MRF operations for Republic Services of Southern California.

• Tom Kusterer, recycling program manager for Montgomery County, Md.

Waste Age (WA): What are the biggest issues in recycling today, and what do you anticipate will be the biggest issues five years from now?

Glenn: Participation in a non-mandatory environment. As for five years from now, we're hopeful that the markets are still high enough to support our programs. We all know recycling is the right thing to do, but can we agree it is market-driven?

Lee: The biggest issue we face today is the cost of collecting and sorting recyclables. The prices of fuel, equipment and labor all have increased dramatically over the past three years. As a result, the cost of providing services to our customers has increased.

I think energy costs will continue to impact the recycling industry over the next five years. Another issue is the sale of commodities. We work with a worldwide market for recyclables. Today, the majority of material that we collect and process is sold in the United States, China and India. Over the next five years, I think we will continue to see development and expansion of the markets in China and India.

Kusterer: Some of the significant issues currently in recycling include collection methodologies and vehicles, communities deciding between single-stream and dual-stream recycling, and adding new materials to the recycling stream.

Some of the issues in the near future could include increased mechanization for sorting materials at material recovery facilities, upgrading material recovery facilities as equipment systems age and the need for improved processing systems occurs, and communities meeting pre-established recycling rates.

WA: There is a growing emphasis on living a “green” lifestyle. Has this resulted in an increased amount of materials brought to your facility?

Glenn: Within the commercial sector — hotels in particular — yes. There does seem to be a great deal of emphasis put out by the media. The public sector may take some more time to get onboard. Education is key! There is a sector, though — lower social economic — that still won't recycle.

Lee: Not so much. For years, we have been introducing creative recycling programs for our customers and investing in facilities to process recyclables. I am encouraged to see other companies throughout the United States jumping on the bandwagon with their “green” initiatives.

Here in California, we have had some extremely aggressive recycling programs over the years. I think that other markets in the United States have seen the increases that California experienced in the '90s.

Kusterer: We have seen an increase in the amount of inbound commingled material over the last several years. We are slightly ahead of last year's inbound tonnage at a comparable point, although two communities that previously delivered their commingled and mixed paper here switched to single-stream recycling and no longer deliver their material to our facility.