A fair CoP? MRF sampling, testing and reporting: Big problems caused by small particles. Part 1: Compliance difficulties and data validity

Abstract

The Regulations governing Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in England require that they report on the quality of both the incoming mixed wastes and the single-stream recyclate products, with the results being made available on a public register. In this investigation, tests were conducted on a number of mixed wastes from different suppliers being processed at a qualifying MRF to evaluate how effective the Regulations (or MRF Code of Practice (MRF CoP)) were in generating useful, meaningful information. The empirical evidence obtained showed that MRF CoP in its current form has a number of serious flaws which detract from the validity and value of the reported operational data. The statutory definition of ‘material particles’ in the mixed wastes given in the MRF CoP means that compliance with the MRF CoP is impracticable, and in order to overcome this it will be necessary to re-word the definition of ‘material particles’. Empirical evidence also invalidated the explicit assumption made in the MRF CoP that the composition of the material particles is identical to that of the bulk materials, and consequently the basis for the mandatory apportioning of the weight of the material particles has no logical foundation and apportioning leads to distortion in the reported data. Changes will be required to the present statutory requirements for reporting operational results if the recorded information is to have meaning and relevance for stakeholders in the system.

A fair CoP? MRF sampling, testing and reporting: Big problems caused by small particles. Part 2: Operational realities and financial implications

“…Kirk and Mokaddam (In press) have indicated that the separation of the statutorily-defined material particles from the bulk materials in the MWs cannot be achieved by the recommended methodology. Accordingly, any materials that would be separated using the currently recommended screening process are named ‘quasi-material particles’ (q-MPs) throughout this article to distinguish them from the statutorily-defined ‘material particles’ of the MRF CoP.…”

“…As was the case for the first part of this investigation (Kirk and Mokaddam, 2021), thanks are due to all who assisted -in particular Ashlie Haste, Quality Control Manager at Bywaters (Leyton) Limited and her staff who carried out most of the sampling and hand-sorting of the mixed wastes to generate the hard data. Thanks, too, to those who continued to have their ears bent and brains picked during the writing period -Charnell Dry, Mick Fegan and Dave Watt being foremost here.…”

“…Empirical data from Kirk and Mokaddam (In press) demonstrated that the composition of q-MPs and the composition of bulk materials of a MW differed widely, thus invalidating the assumption of compositional equivalence. This alone would be sufficient grounds for abandoning the apportioning artefact.…”

“…Tests conducted by Kirk and Mokaddam (In press) at a qualifying MRF processing a variety of MWs showed that this assumption is invalid, with the two streams having widely-differing compositions and that consequently this apportioning artefact introduces distortions into the reported data.…”

A Review of Recent Trends to Increase the Share of Post-Consumer Packaging Waste to Recycling in Europe

“…Of the 14 articles selected, one was at country level, six investigated MRFs as part of the MSW management system of a city or region, six were on plant level only, and one was at the level of a paper factory that received waste paper from different MRFs. Four studies were related to the UK (Kirk & Mokaddam, 2021a, 2021bMiranda et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2020) and Spain (Ip et al, 2018;Istrate, Medina-Martos, et al, 2021;Miranda et al, 2013), and three to Italy (Ardolino et al, 2017;Gadaleta et al, 2020;Mastellone et al, 2017). One study each was on Portugal, Germany, Austria and without any reference (Cimpan et al, 2016;Dias et al, 2014;Griffiths et al, 2010;Warrings & Fellner, 2021).…”