Smarter Recycling Facilities Key to Avoiding the Chop : TOMRA E-Book: A Practical Guide to Meeting China’s National Sword for Recycling Firms
Sorting equipment manufacturer, TOMRA Sorting Recycling, has published an e-book containing advice on how to meet the tough new rules for sending recyclable materials to China.
TOMRA explained that the e-book aims to address widespread concerns about China’s National Sword standard, introduced to the World Trade Organisation in July 2017 and fully implemented on 1st March 2018, which demands higher purity levels in recyclable materials entering the country.
The standard is expected to be expanded to include a total of 16 materials by the end of this year, and to add a further 16 materials by the end of 2019.
National Sword has sent shock waves through the recycling industry by requiring much recyclable material arriving in China to have purity levels greater than 99.5 %. This is a significant increase from the 90-95 % purity levels previously accepted and will have far-reaching consequences: China is the world’s largest importer of recycled material.
TOMRA’s e-book explains why, for businesses striving to meet the new standard, adding more manual pickers is not a sustainable option, and why sensor-based mechanical solutions make more financial sense.
The publication - titled ‘National Sword - No Need for Fear!’ - is available for free HERE
Exporting – the expensive option for recyclables
The publications opens with a reality-check, warning that it will not be practical for scrap and recycling facilities to look for single-country replacements for exporting waste.
According to TOMRA, recycling facilities are likely to find they must split their waste exports between multiple countries, which will increase sales costs. Increases can also be expected in transportation costs because ships taking waste to China are usually able to make a cost-effective return trip loaded with consumer goods, whereas ships going to other countries often require additional payment for returning empty.
The company said that the answer to this new challenge is to improve the quality of recyclables by removing more impurities.
One short-term way of raising purity levels with existing recycling equipment is to slow down the belt and add manual pickers to the final sorting stage.
However, the e-book said that while this approach might seem attractive because it requires little initial investment, over time it significantly increases operating costs. Adding two or three pickers can easily inflate annual processing costs by €82,000 ($100,000) or more, and a slower processing speed will reduce productivity and income.
MRF upgrades – the sensible solution
The Norwegian manufacturer said that a better solution is to upgrade the recycling circuit either by adding modern technologies to the existing recycling configuration or by constructing a new facility.
The publication argued that this will reduce the number of pickers required, enabling more efficient workforce utilisation to reduce overhead and long-term operating costs. The cost of investment in new equipment is quickly recovered through increased productivity.
The e-book also acknowledged that some equipment upgrades require complete circuit add-ons and more space, whereas other technologies can be added onto existing equipment in the circuit with minimal space requirements and low installation costs.
For example, TOMRA’s cites its new Laser Object Detection (LOD) which system can be mounted onto the same platform as the AUTOSORT and FINDER systems to detect materials such as black plastics, rubber and glass.
The LOD system can also remove printed circuit boards (PCBs) - and TOMRA’s laser technology increases current circuit purity levels by as much as four percent, allowing scrap recyclers to achieve China’s purity requirements without significantly increasing energy consumption and costs.
TOMRA also said that for zurik and zorba non-ferrous products, scrap operations can attain National Sword purity levels with the combined technologies of X-TRACT and COMBISENSE machines. By passing zorba through an X-Ray Transmission unit to separate aluminium from heavy metals, X-TRACT is claimed to achieve aluminium purities of 98-99%.
From the remaining heavy metals, COMBISENSE then sorts out fragments of copper, brass and grey metals.
Complementing these machines, TOMRA’s highlighted its enhanced LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy) sorting technology employs a laser which can monitor the entire width of the belt, eliminating the complex and costly need to separate materials into single lanes.
In the separation of different aluminium wrought alloys, this is said to enable sorting accuracies of 99% purity (or greater) with high throughputs of three to seven tons per hour.
“National Sword has understandably been a source of great concern to many recycling operations, particularly those not yet attaining such high purity levels,” said Tom Eng, Senior Vice President and Head of TOMRA Sorting Recycling, commented.
“TOMRA’s e-book addresses this challenge and shows that the necessary technical solutions already exist. Investing in new technology will enable businesses to comply with tougher new regulations, whether they come from China or elsewhere in the world. What’s more, customers will pay recycling businesses a higher price for a higher quality product,” he concluded.
Read More
TOMRA Backs Plastic Pollution Research eXXpedition as Leader Speaks at IFAT 2018
TOMRA, has come on board as the Title Sponsor for eXXpedition’s next highly anticipated all-women plastic research voyage North Pacific 2018.
VIDEO: TOMRA’s Latest Developments for the Recycling Industry
TOMRA Sorting Recycling showcases its new X-TRACT sorting system at IFAT for the waste and recycling industry at IFAT 2016.
Optical Recycling System Specialist TOMRA Hold First Annual Conference in Crete
TOMRA explains technology advances for recycling industry at its first two day ‘TOMRA Leads Global Conference´ on the Greek island of Crete.