Released 01/01/2018
The upgrades are complete and following the eight million dollar improvements to the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Hume, the plant is now in full swing making it one of the best co-mingled sorting facilities in Australia.
“Today’s open day was a chance to demonstrate the recycling facilities significant new and improved capabilities for the ACT and surrounding region,” ACT NOWaste Director Michael Trushell said.
“The eight million dollar upgrade has many technological innovations.
“One of the highlights is the installation of new optical sorting technology. Using image recognition technology, plastic recyclables pass through a system with high resolution images recorded. These are then checked against a database to correctly identify the plastic with the item then sorted for bailing. The most impressive aspect of this system is its capacity to learn to recognise more items as more packaging is processed.
“Another exciting new feature of the facility is the ability to implode glass and transform it into a high quality sand product. Trials are underway which will assist in a variety of civil work projects including road bases and concrete mix, reducing our carbon footprint and creating jobs, Mr Trushell said.
The new technology at the facility is also great benefit for sorting and bailing plastics, metals, glass as well as paper and cardboard.
“Having an upgraded MRF maximises our resource recovery and remanufacturing of products in Australia or for sale to overseas markets,” Mr Trushell said.
“I would like to congratulate the facility’s contractor Re.Group for their investment which will lead to significantly improved resource recovery of material.”
The new technology will support progress towards the achievement of the ACT Government’s waste recovery target, 90 per cent resources recovery by 2025 as reflected in the ACT Waste Management Strategy, 2011-2025.
- Statement ends -
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