​BHS Selected for Los Angeles MRF

The Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County (Districts) have selected Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) to design, manufacture and install a new materials recovery system at the Districts' Puente Hills Materials Recovery Facility (PHMRF). The system will process both commercial and residential streams - including dry commercial waste, commercial Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), multifamily MSW, and Single Stream recyclables - and increase the Districts' processing capacity to 600 tpd. 

The system provides the flexibility to process various input streams while maximizing recovery and end-product quality. The high-tech equipment is highlighted by the inclusion of a Max-AI™ Autonomous QC (AQC) in a quality control role on the PET that is recovered by the system's NRT SpydIR®-T optical sorter. Max-AI is an artificial intelligence developed with deep learning neural network technology, and is able to recognize materials similar to the way a person does. Max targets non-PET items, including non-California Refund Value (CRV) PET, which the AQC's robotic sorter removes at levels that consistently outperform manual sorting. The demand to increase the quality of fiber will be addressed through optical sorting technology, including a NRT FiberPure™ optical sorter that recovers clean mixed paper. Another FiberPure optical sorter recovers the smaller and increasingly prevalent cardboard in the system. 

The latest AI, robotic and fiber optical technologies add to BHS' mixed waste recovery capabilities, a patented process that has been implemented throughout the world including at several operational facilities in California. The process includes BHS metering and bag opening technologies, Tri-Disc™ screens, Nihot air density classification and NRT In-Flight Sorting® optical technology. The PHMRF design includes the built in flexibility to run several material types on the same line, from dry Single Stream to organics-rich MSW, and features the technology mix that has proven to deliver high rates of throughput, recovery and uptime. 

"The BHS system will cost-effectively improve our recycling efforts, which will help our member cities meet recycling requirements," said Habib Kharrat, Supervising Engineer for the Districts. "We wanted a system to