UIUC Waste Transfer Facility/ Materials Recovery Facility
Tim Hoss
Pre-Lab
- Think about what the two parts of the name of this facility mean.
- What is Waste Transfer?
- What is Materials Recovery?
Tour Details
- Meet at the facility by
__________. You may
enter the main office to
the east of the parking lot.
-
DO NOT follow the signs
for the Waste
Management & Research
Council- you’ll be in the
wrong place.
-
DO look for the large
white building on the
North side of St. Mary’s
Rd. inside a tall chainlink
fence. Drive through the
fence and veer slightly left
as you enter. There is a
large area where you can
park, either head first in
front of the main office,
or head first along the
metal barricade. DO NOT
block the roads as
garbage trucks come in
and out of the facility.
-
We will be outside for at least 30 minutes, so dress appropriately!
-
You do not need your module book, but you will need to answer the
questions on this paper. You might want to bring a clipboard to hold your
paper while outside. If your class is at night, it may be dark and may be
difficult to take notes. Feel free to bring a flashlight if you’d like to.
Assignments
- Answer the questions on this paper.
- Ask any questions you may have about the tour and the questions.
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Map of the facility
Letters indicate “stops” on tour. Feel free to add your own!
A couple of “rules”:
Be careful and wary of the trucks.
People are doing there jobs and are not necessarily anticipating
groups of students standing around. Keep your group together and
out of workers’ ways.
When you go inside the recovery area, please stay on the west side of
the room so workers can continue working.
If you have any suggestions, additions, or changes, please give them to
me!!!
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tires
North
plastic
D
I
H
E
F
G
Mezzanine &
Recovery Area
Office
South Bay
North Bay
C
B
A
A
Start at the north bay. Just go to the east side; it is open and you can
walk inside if it’s not busy.
~2,000 students signed a petition to get recycling implemented on campus. The
students provided a comprehensive plan for recycling of materials, and the
University listened and funded the initial effort.
The north & south bays of the facility were built in November 1987. The facility
was expanded to include the office and mezzanine/recovery area, and began
recovery of materials in 1989. Funding was provided for the facility by various
sources; UIUC funded a line of credit, and funds were given in part by
Department of Community Affairs, Operations and Maintenance, and Custodial/
Grounds Department.
The north bay contains a compactor that was originally used in 1987. The
compactor is still used today to compact trash that is not recovered. You can see
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the conveyer belt dropping trash in the southwest corner of the building. The
trash is compacted and put into trucks (you’ll see these from behind the building)
and then the waste is hauled to the landfill. This is the last part of the movement
of waste through the facility.
There is also a compactor/ baler on the south wall. This was the original baler
used to make bales of cardboard, newsprint, and other items. It is still used
occasionally, but the main baler is inside the recovery area.
Move to the south bay
B
The trash bin in the front of the office is used for scrap metals. Point it out,
especially if it is full.
C
This is where trash is first brought in to the facility. Numerous trucks drive
around the University campus and collect trash and recoverable items.
Sometimes, the trucks pick up only trash from the recycling containers, and
sometimes the trucks are full of mixed trash. Occasionally the truck drivers pick
up special wastes, like scrap metal. The point here is that the waste that comes
into this bay is varied and diverse.
This is the place to point out the differences between a waste transfer station and
a recycling center. This drop-off of trash is the same for both types of facilities,
but from here, the flow of the trash differs between the facilities.
A waste transfer station deals with many types of waste, and specializes primarily
in consolidating waste pickups from multiple locations, then transferring it to a
landfill or its next destination. A waste transfer station is regulated by the IL
EPA, and requires a permit to operate.
A recycling center deals only with recoverable/ recyclable materials. It
specializes in consolidating and sorting recyclable waste materials, then
transporting them to facilities that purchase the materials. Currently, these are
not under EPA regulation and they do not require permits to operate.
This facility does both waste transfer (the trash that ends up compacted and sent
to a landfill) and recovery of recyclable materials (the materials that end of baled
inside the recovery area of the building). Waste is brought in from various
locations around the UIUC campus, consolidated, and recyclable materials are
recovered from the waste. Nonrecyclable waste materials are transported to the
landfill, and recyclable materials are sent to various facilities who purchase
cardboard, paper, metals, and plastics.
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This is also a good place to define a “waste stream”. A waste stream is the “flow”
of waste from its source (your trashcan) to its final destination (landfill,
incinerator, recyclable processing center).
The UIUC waste stream differs from a municipal waste stream because it tends to
be drier, has less food (except for game days), and is higher in recyclable
materials (especially paper). It is easier to recover materials from this type of
waste stream than a municipal waste stream.
The total waste stream of the UIUC campus is
~ 12,000 tons/year
~48% (5760 tons/ year) is recovered, and
~52% (6240 tons/ year)
(Tim said that 12,000 tons/ year was about enough to fill the assembly hall with
trash up to 30 ft).
Go around the south side of the building and head west. Be careful of trucks
here!!!! They can come down that road very quickly!
D
Move out of the south bay, and around the southeast corner of the
building. You’ll walk west along the south side of the building to get
to the “back”.
As you come around to the back of the building, there are usually large bins full of
plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and tires. Point these out. They sit here and wait
to be baled or transported to another facility.
The tires are sold, then sometimes ground up and burned as a source of heat or
rubber chips for various purposes.
E
Go inside the building using the door on the west side, at the south
end of the building. Be mindful of the equipment and workers!
You should see large piles of paper bales in front of you. Let the students take a
close look at these, and point out the composition. Sometimes they are one
quality of paper, sometimes they are mixed.
F
In front of you is the sort line on the mezzanine. If you have a daytime tour
(before 3pm), there should be several people there working. The trash comes
from the south bay, and is pushed onto a conveyor belt that brings the materials
to those workers. They each pull one material from the belt, and put it into a hole
next to them. The materials drop through the holes, into bins below. You should
be able to see those bins below the workers full of stuff. Anything that is not
recovered by those workers continues along the conveyor belt and into the north
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bay where it is compacted and hauled to the landfill (usually Clinton, but
sometimes Danville). If the workers miss a recoverable item, it goes to the
landfill. This is not a perfect system, but it works well enough.
Have students discuss the costs/ benefits associated with landfill use, and the
costs/benefits associated with recovery of recyclable materials. These are
questions 7-10 on the handout.
G
The baler is on the north side of the building. The recovered items from the bins
below the workers on the sort line are moved into the big hole in the floor. The
items are pushed into the hole by one of the small bulldozers in the room. The
items are loaded into the baler, compacted by the machine, and automatically
tied with baling wire. It is cool to watch if workers are baling. It is also loud!
H
The doors on the west side of the building open into semi trailers. These are
filled with bales of recovered materials, and when full, are transported to a facility
that purchases them.
This benefits the facility because they can wait for the market price for certain
materials to be high before they sell. This is what they do with things like
aluminum.
Talk about the market for recyclable materials here:
Facilities across the country will purchase recovered materials, particularly paper
fibers, aluminum, and metals. Some facilities will accept very specific types of
recyclable materials, and other facilities will accept a diversity of materials. This
is especially important with paper, because paper can be in so many different
grades. The time it takes to sort the different types of paper, and the market
prices, will change what this facility does.
For example, in 2003, the market for paper fibers was good, and the facility was
busy. It was not worth the time of the employees to sort the paper into different
grades, so this facility bundled all office paper, glossy paper, and high quality
paper together and sold it for a lower price to a facility in Kentucky. A year and a
half later, the market for paper was outstanding, and the price the facility could
get for the higher quality paper was very high. The facility was also not that busy.
The sorters now sorted the paper by quality, and the facility was able to get more
money for the paper.
The world market for recovered materials in large right now, as other countries,
China in particular, are buying up recyclable materials and causing prices to go
up.
I
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Move back out the door you came in, and head north to the northwest
end of the building.
You should be able to see large bales of plastics awaiting transport. Let the
students look closely at the bales and see how much material goes into one.
You can also see the back side of the compactor in the north bay where trucks are
filled with unrecovered waste and hauled to the landfill.
Talk about the ways this facility benefits the University:
a. Avoid $3 million in landfill costs annually.
b. Generated $3 million in the sale of recovered materials.
c. Lessen environmental impact by reducing solid waste disposal.
d. Decreases energy consumption and pollution production.
e. Costs less to operate this kind of facility than waste transfer station.
Finished. Lead the students back to the parking lot. Please do not let
them leave on their own as the trucks are still coming and going.
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Questions
1. The facility you see today was completely built and paid for by the
University in 1986. False
The north & south bays of the facility were built in November 1987. The facility
was expanded to include the office and mezzanine/recovery area, and began
recovery of materials in 1989. Funding was provided for the facility by various
sources; UIUC funded a line of credit, and funds were given in part by
Department of Community Affairs, Operations and Maintenance, and
Custodial/ Grounds Department.
2. What motivated the efforts to begin recyclables recovery at the university?
Students! ~2,000 students signed a petition to get recycling implemented on
campus. The students provided a comprehensive plan for recycling of
materials, and the University listened and funded the initial effort.
3. How does a waste transfer station differ from a recycling center?
A waste transfer station deals with many types of waste, and specializes
primarily in consolidating waste pickups from multiple locations, then
transferring it to a landfill or its next destination. A waste transfer station is
regulated by the IL EPA, and requires a permit to operate.
A recycling center deals only with recoverable/ recyclable materials. It
specializes in consolidating and sorting recyclable waste materials, then
transporting them to facilities that purchase the materials. Currently, these are
not under EPA regulation and they do not require permits to operate.
- Is this UIUC facility a waste transfer stations or recycling center?
It operates as both. Waste is brought in from various locations around the
UIUC campus, consolidated, and recyclable materials are recovered from the
waste. Nonrecyclable waste materials are transported to the landfill, and
recyclable materials are sent to various facilities who purchase cardboard,
paper, metals, and plastics.
4. What is a “waste stream”?
A waste stream is the “flow” of waste from its source (your trashcan) to its final
destination (landfill, incinerator, recyclable processing center).
5. How does the UIUC waste stream differ from a municipal waste stream?
It is drier, has less food, and is higher in recyclable materials (especially paper).
It is easier to recover materials from this type of waste stream than a municipal
waste stream.
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6. What is the total waste stream that is generated by the UIUC campus?
Total waste stream= 12,000 tons/year
How much of that is recovered?
~48% (5760 tons/ year)
How much of that is landfilled?
~52% (6240 tons/ year)
7. What are the general costs associated with landfilling wastes?
Transportation
Tipping fees
Uses space
Loses materials, so requires more raw materials to be obtained
Creates more solid waste, uses more energy, and creates pollution
8. What are the general benefits associated with landfilling wastes?
Easy
Doesn’t require sorting
9. What are the general costs associated with recovering materials?
Requires sorting
Transportation
Not everything can be recycled, so you still have costs associated with
landfilling
10. What are the general benefits associated with recovering materials?
Saves resources
Recycling can pay for nonrecyclable waste disposal in landfills
Reduces need for landfilling (thus, saves space, transportation and tipping fee
costs)
Creates less solid waste, saves energy and prevents pollution
11. What kinds of materials are recovered and recycled from this facility? List
at least five materials.
a. cardboard
b. office paper – 200 tons/ month
c. low grade paper (glossy)
d. aluminum – 80,000 lbs/year (20,000 cans/ bail; $0.54/lb)
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e. scrap metals – 10,000 lbs /year
f. tires
g. newsprint
h. #1 and #2 plastics
i. Kitchen grease
j. Concrete
k. asphalt
12. List the quantities recovered for two of the materials your instructor
mentioned.
a. Material:
Amount:
b.Material:
Amount:
13. Who buys the recovered products? Is there a good market for these
materials?
Facilities across the country will purchase recovered materials, particularly
paper fibers, aluminum, and metals. Some facilities will accept very specific
types of recyclable materials, and other facilities will accept a diversity of
materials. This is especially important with paper, because paper can be in so
many different grades. The time it takes to sort the different types of paper, and
the market prices, will change what this facility does.
For example, in 2003, the market for paper fibers was good, and the facility
was busy. It was not worth the time of the employees to sort the paper into
different grades, so this facility bundled all office paper, glossy paper, and high
quality paper together and sold it for a lower price to a facility in Kentucky. A
year and a half later, the market for paper was outstanding, and the price the
facility could get for the higher quality paper was very high. The facility was
also not that busy. The sorters now sorted the paper by quality, and the facility
was able to get more money for the paper.
The world market for recovered materials in large right now, as other
countries, China in particular, are buying up recyclable materials and causing
prices to go up.
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14. State two ways that the university benefits from the recycling component
of the waste transfer station.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
Avoid $3 million in landfill costs annually.
Generated $3 million in the sale of recovered materials.
Lessen environmental impact by reducing solid waste disposal.
Decreases energy consumption and pollution production.
Costs less to operate this kind of facility than waste transfer
station.
15. In your opinion, would a facility of this type be a realistic option for
disposal of community solid waste? Why or why not?
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