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Carly Wier, executive director of the High Country Conservation Center, leans on crushed squares of aluminum Thursday as she talks about the Materials Recovery Facility at the Summit County Landfill.
KEYSTONE — A new baler means bigger bucks to support recycling in Summit County.
When the county took over the recycling operation from Summit Recycling Center Jan. 1, it constructed a 11,000 square-foot building on the landfill. A mill levy taxpayers passed in 2003 funded a few local capital improvements, one of which included the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). The $1.8 million facility, which began operating in August, houses a huge two-ram baler. The machine creates standard-size bales from recycled materials, which the county can sell directly to mills.
In the past, the Summit Recycling Center collected residents’ recycling. However, its baler wasn’t large enough to create standard-size bales for mills throughout the nation to accept. As a result, it had to send its bundles to facilities in Denver, which tore apart the cubes and reformed them into industry-size standards of 60 inches by 48 inches by 30 inches.
Now mills pay MRF $80 a ton for mixed plastics. Before, the Summit Recycling Center had to pay approximately $50 to a “middle man” in Denver, and that left the center with only a $30 cut for the plastics. Aluminum is particularly profitable; what used to earn $600 a ton now earns $1,000 because the county can sell the uniform bales direct. The extra income will help pay for operating costs and new services, Wier said.
The MRF also has the ability to become the middle man for smaller mountain operations west of Summit County. Such a collaboration would give the MRF money and save other mountain towns extra transportation costs associated with sending materials to Denver.
Since the MRF began operating Aug. 14, it has shipped approximately 350,000 pounds of recycled materials to mills — about one-and-a-half times the amount the Summit Recycling Center did, said Kevin Berg, recycling manager.
New opportunities for old stuff
Two-thirds of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today, thanks to recycling efforts, said Carly Wier, executive director of the High Country Conservation Center.
The MRF makes the reuse of aluminum and tin even simpler for people, allowing them to commingle the two items. The metals move on a conveyor belt on the two-ram baler, and a strong magnet pulls the tin from the aluminum, thus separating the two.
The MRF now accepts cardboard and more types of plastics, which people don’t have to sort. Within a month, the MRF plans to have a system in place so it can accept all kinds of commingled materials, from glass to plastic and tin, Wier said.
Once the crew of four county employees adjust to the new facility and the MRF starts taking commingled materials, the county hopes trash haulers will increase their curb-side recycling. The plan benefits trash companies because currently they’re paying to drop garbage — including materials that could be recycled — in the landfill. Haulers can drop the recycled materials off at the MRF at no cost.
“We want households to take advantage of what we’re doing here, and we need the haulers to help,” said Thad Noll, assistant county manager.
The county also started a pilot project for composting. It is storing a large pile of wood chips it plans to add to a “recipe” of the carbon (wood), nitrogen (food scraps) and other elements to create a compost pile. Once the program begins, the county can use compost for revegetation, as well as offer it to landscapers and residents.
It’s also collecting old appliances and hoping to generate a building materials reuse center with appliances, two-by-fours and so on, in hopes of people reusing them.
Besides the MRF, Wier wants to add more satellite drop-off centers so second homeowners and others who don’t have trash collection can more easily recycle.
The MRF is the first big step taken toward the county’s zero waste goal, which commissioners passed a resolution supporting last August, Noll said.
“This opens the door for endless other opportunities for us, like adding new commodities,” Noll said. “As we continue to evolve, we’ll be able to handle more.”
MRF: First green built in the nation
Another thing the county can take pride in is the fact that its facility is the first green built in the country, Noll said. It is certified as a Green Globes building by the Green Building initiative. The building is designed to be energy and resource efficient.
For example, it uses energy recovery ventilators, which reuses heat in the building.
Steel beams are made of recycled content, and clerestory windows allow light in but don’t allow heat to escape, making them more cost effective than glass windows.
The county chose recycled rubber and recycled soda bottles for office flooring. Low volatile organic compounds (VOC) paint on the walls releases less pollutants than other paint, Wier said.
Continuing education
When the county bought out the Summit Recycling Center, Wier spearheaded the High Country Conservation Center, a nonprofit dedicated to education and outreach.
“The main goal is to provide practical solutions to waste reduction and resource conservation that are specific to the mountains,” she said. “We want to make recycling strong and successful in the county because it’s one of the most practical things anyone can do to protect the environment.”
One service the organization offers includes helping people increase energy conservation in their homes.
For kids, the center created the Emerald City, complete with a Tin Man — built from dryer barrels and other reclaimed metal — a fabricated tornado and a brick road made of recycled yellow glass. The tornado funnels in facts about destructive consumption. The Tin Man tells heartfelt facts about the positive effects of recycling. Staff built the Emerald City from scrap metal and painted it green. The display stands outside the MRF.
Extra scraps of info
Though Wier initially voiced concerns about a county-owned recycling center — she worried that a downturn in the economy could result in program cuts — she’s very happy with the county’s commitment to expansion.
“Things are going well right now because the county is so involved,” Wier said. “I don’t think there’s any danger of recycling falling away or becoming less comprehensive.”
The county hoped to open the MRF in February or March, but weather delays and unforeseen problems such as building a 200,000 gallon water tank to meet flow requirements for water for fire suppression caused the facility to open several months later.
Today it celebrates its grand opening from 1-3 p.m.
The center operates Monday through Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
When the county took over the recycling operation from Summit Recycling Center Jan. 1, it constructed a 11,000 square-foot building on the landfill. A mill levy taxpayers passed in 2003 funded a few local capital improvements, one of which included the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). The $1.8 million facility, which began operating in August, houses a huge two-ram baler. The machine creates standard-size bales from recycled materials, which the county can sell directly to mills.
In the past, the Summit Recycling Center collected residents’ recycling. However, its baler wasn’t large enough to create standard-size bales for mills throughout the nation to accept. As a result, it had to send its bundles to facilities in Denver, which tore apart the cubes and reformed them into industry-size standards of 60 inches by 48 inches by 30 inches.
Now mills pay MRF $80 a ton for mixed plastics. Before, the Summit Recycling Center had to pay approximately $50 to a “middle man” in Denver, and that left the center with only a $30 cut for the plastics. Aluminum is particularly profitable; what used to earn $600 a ton now earns $1,000 because the county can sell the uniform bales direct. The extra income will help pay for operating costs and new services, Wier said.
The MRF also has the ability to become the middle man for smaller mountain operations west of Summit County. Such a collaboration would give the MRF money and save other mountain towns extra transportation costs associated with sending materials to Denver.
Since the MRF began operating Aug. 14, it has shipped approximately 350,000 pounds of recycled materials to mills — about one-and-a-half times the amount the Summit Recycling Center did, said Kevin Berg, recycling manager.
New opportunities for old stuff
Two-thirds of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today, thanks to recycling efforts, said Carly Wier, executive director of the High Country Conservation Center.
The MRF makes the reuse of aluminum and tin even simpler for people, allowing them to commingle the two items. The metals move on a conveyor belt on the two-ram baler, and a strong magnet pulls the tin from the aluminum, thus separating the two.
The MRF now accepts cardboard and more types of plastics, which people don’t have to sort. Within a month, the MRF plans to have a system in place so it can accept all kinds of commingled materials, from glass to plastic and tin, Wier said.
Once the crew of four county employees adjust to the new facility and the MRF starts taking commingled materials, the county hopes trash haulers will increase their curb-side recycling. The plan benefits trash companies because currently they’re paying to drop garbage — including materials that could be recycled — in the landfill. Haulers can drop the recycled materials off at the MRF at no cost.
“We want households to take advantage of what we’re doing here, and we need the haulers to help,” said Thad Noll, assistant county manager.
The county also started a pilot project for composting. It is storing a large pile of wood chips it plans to add to a “recipe” of the carbon (wood), nitrogen (food scraps) and other elements to create a compost pile. Once the program begins, the county can use compost for revegetation, as well as offer it to landscapers and residents.
It’s also collecting old appliances and hoping to generate a building materials reuse center with appliances, two-by-fours and so on, in hopes of people reusing them.
Besides the MRF, Wier wants to add more satellite drop-off centers so second homeowners and others who don’t have trash collection can more easily recycle.
The MRF is the first big step taken toward the county’s zero waste goal, which commissioners passed a resolution supporting last August, Noll said.
“This opens the door for endless other opportunities for us, like adding new commodities,” Noll said. “As we continue to evolve, we’ll be able to handle more.”
MRF: First green built in the nation
Another thing the county can take pride in is the fact that its facility is the first green built in the country, Noll said. It is certified as a Green Globes building by the Green Building initiative. The building is designed to be energy and resource efficient.
For example, it uses energy recovery ventilators, which reuses heat in the building.
Steel beams are made of recycled content, and clerestory windows allow light in but don’t allow heat to escape, making them more cost effective than glass windows.
The county chose recycled rubber and recycled soda bottles for office flooring. Low volatile organic compounds (VOC) paint on the walls releases less pollutants than other paint, Wier said.
Continuing education
When the county bought out the Summit Recycling Center, Wier spearheaded the High Country Conservation Center, a nonprofit dedicated to education and outreach.
“The main goal is to provide practical solutions to waste reduction and resource conservation that are specific to the mountains,” she said. “We want to make recycling strong and successful in the county because it’s one of the most practical things anyone can do to protect the environment.”
One service the organization offers includes helping people increase energy conservation in their homes.
For kids, the center created the Emerald City, complete with a Tin Man — built from dryer barrels and other reclaimed metal — a fabricated tornado and a brick road made of recycled yellow glass. The tornado funnels in facts about destructive consumption. The Tin Man tells heartfelt facts about the positive effects of recycling. Staff built the Emerald City from scrap metal and painted it green. The display stands outside the MRF.
Extra scraps of info
Though Wier initially voiced concerns about a county-owned recycling center — she worried that a downturn in the economy could result in program cuts — she’s very happy with the county’s commitment to expansion.
“Things are going well right now because the county is so involved,” Wier said. “I don’t think there’s any danger of recycling falling away or becoming less comprehensive.”
The county hoped to open the MRF in February or March, but weather delays and unforeseen problems such as building a 200,000 gallon water tank to meet flow requirements for water for fire suppression caused the facility to open several months later.
Today it celebrates its grand opening from 1-3 p.m.
The center operates Monday through Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
