TOMRA regional director Americas to speak about strategies and technologies for cleaning, handling and transporting scrap glass
NERC Northeast Glass Forum focused on understanding glass markets and decision-making
Carlos Manchado Atienza, regional director Americas for TOMRA Sorting Recycling, will speak at the upcoming Northeast Recycling Council's (NERC) Northeast Glass Forum, September 1-2, 2020.
The virtual event targets glass industry professionals grappling with understanding glass markets and decision-making for a community's recycled non-bottle bill glass program.
Manchado Atienza will present during the panel discussion, "Strategies & Technologies for Cleaning, Handling, & Transporting Glass." The session is scheduled to last from 2:15 - 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 2.
During the panel session, Manchado Atienza will present the economic case for single stream MRFs and municipalities to think beyond breaking and sizing glass only to help increased revenue potential. "Screened glass still contains a significant amount of impurities, such as metals, organics and CSPs (ceramics, stones and porcelain), and is, therefore, often sold at a negative value or no value," says Manchado Atienza. "This costs MRFs hundreds of thousands of dollars annually."
Using advanced sorting practices, recycling operators can remove these impurities to make the recycled glass product more desirable and, therefore, more valuable to customers. As a result, the supply of recycled glass will increase nationally. "Adding an optical sorter, such as our AUTOSORT LASER, helps to remove impurities like black objects, plastics, paper, organics and other materials, so operators can sell the recycled glass product at a higher price," he adds. "We've identified a number of MRFs operating throughout the United States that could benefit from an upgraded glass clean-up system, which could significantly increase the annual recycled glass supply."
TOMRA's AUTOSORT LASER combines laser, electromagnetic and near infrared (NIR) sorting technologies to increase glass sorting purity. This powerful sensor combination detects more material properties at the same point simultaneously and, therefore, sorts material fractions more efficiently. With its independent background system, AUTOSORT LASER excels at sorting thin, thick or opaque glass from transparent polymers, increasing glass purity.
