Dive Brief:

• Monterey County, CA is building a new MRF that will open in September 2016, according to a press release. Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) of Eugene, OR is designing, manufacturing, and installing the facility that can process more than 30 tons per hour (TPH) of single-stream waste, 40 TPH of mixed waste and 40 TPH of construction and demolition materials. The Monterey Regional Waste Management District includes a household hazardous waste collection facility and a landfill gas-to-energy program.​
• The project will create new publicly owned community diversion infrastructure to ensure that district member agencies — which include Carmel-by-the-Sea, Del Rey Oaks, Marina, Monterey, Monterey County, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach Community Services District and Sand City — are compliant with state regulatory requirements on organics diversion, mandatory commercial recycling, and CalGreen construction and demolition material diversion. The new MRF will support California's 75% waste diversion goal by 2020.
• The system has two in-feeds, one for construction and demolition materials and one for either single-stream or mixed waste. It also has a BHS Bag Breaker, debris roll screens, and Nihot Single Drum Separators.

Dive Insight:

"This MRF improvement project will position the district and its member agencies to achieve new levels of success in support of the district’s 'turning waste into a resource' mission for the next 20 years," said District General Manager Tim Flanagan in a press release.

Waste 360 credits California's aggressive diversion goals with prompting recycling infrastructure investment and other efforts. In September, San Jose began a pilot food waste collection program, with waste hauler Garden City Sanitation operating a new processing facility and testing two types of carts for residential food waste collection.

The Legislature also passed a bill (AB 199) that would provide a sales-and-use tax exemption on recycling and composting equipment, and on equipment that uses recycled content in the manufacturing of new products.

State and local incentives in California and elsewhere that help push toward zero waste can only mean more opportunities for growth in the industry.