Lycoming County Resource Mgmt. Services (LCRMS) located in Pennsylvania has celebrated the grand opening of its $5.3 million Green Machine® single-stream material recovery facility (MRF) along with the launch of a new regional recycling program called 'One for All'.
Green Machine’s® engineers provided the county with the possible design, melding existing dual stream assets with state-of-the-art single-stream technology.
“The new single-stream MRF allows area residents and businesses the convenience of mixing all their recyclables together while offering a wider range of collected recyclables, including Nos. 1 through 7 plastics and aseptic gable-top containers, such as juice and soup cartons,” explains Jason Yorks, Lycoming County Recycling Coordinator.
The 60,000-square-foot MRF, which is adjacent to the Lycoming County Landfill, can sort and bale up to 20 tons per hour of comingled recyclables. The participating counties in Northeastern Pennsylvania include Lycoming, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Union and Snyder. Officials say when the facility is running at full capacity it will be able to serve an even larger area.
Green Machine® manufactured and installed Lycoming’s equipment, including a fully automated container sort line that includes four Patented Green Eye® Optical Sorters. A grant from the Carton Council also helped to purchase one optical sorter that will sort the aseptic gable top containers.
“This single-stream recycling initiative is truly an economic ‘win’ all around—for residents, haulers and Lycoming County,” says Jeff Wheeland, Lycoming CountyCommissioner. “ Now it’s easier to recycle more items while saving money through this open-market competition model. This program is one more economic benefit for our area, showcasing what proper planning, partnership and stewardship is all about.”
In early 2014, LCRMS and the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College conducted a survey of residents in the region to gauge their knowledge and perception about single-stream recycling. The findings showed 76 percent in favor of the process for reasons that included convenience, simplicity and environmental responsibility. The majority of respondents also suggested they would recycle more frequently if the process was introduced and would switch waste haulers if another offered the service. In June 2014, based on these findings, Lycoming County commissioners granted approval to purchase the Green Machine’s® single-stream MRF.
“It simply makes good sense to support recycling and waste reduction efforts that are making a tremendous difference across the commonwealth,” says Eugene Yaw, Pennsylvania’s State Senator.“ The fact that this initiative both achieves those goals and adds convenience to our residents is highly commendable. I applaud the efforts of Lycoming County and their willingness to serve a larger region with this recycling/waste reduction initiative.”
Participating waste haulers will provide individual collection bins for homeowners. Those haulers will now pick up unsorted recyclable materials from residents’ homes and will be paid by the county for the recyclables. Lycoming County’s 27 recycling drop-off sites also will continue to operate.
“With this new facility and program in place, we’ll now be able to preserve valuable landfill space, increase our capacity, have a more cost-effective, convenient way to recycle and hopefully improve local recycling participation,” Yorks says. “For residents, it’s a more convenient way to recycle, and for haulers, it’s an opportunity for business. We see it as a win-win.”
