ECO-EMBALLAGES
A French territory of 6,600 residents needed a self-contained recycling program.
Funded by Eco-Emballages, a private company founded in 1992 in France by companies to support extended producer responsibility, the city of St. Pierre et Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, implemented an island wide recycling program to collect and process household packaging.
The program consists of multiple drop-off sites where residents bring glass, plastics, aseptic packaging, aluminum and steel cans, as well as paper and cardboard. While paper, cardboard and glass are collected separately, plastics containers, aluminum and steel cans and aseptic packaging are collected comingled.
The challenge for the city of St Pierre was to implement a low operating cost system to sort and prepare the different recyclable containers ready for the end markets despite the low volume generated.
The sorted materials needed to be processed to minimize transportation costs due to the high shipping cost to send the materials to the nearest MRF in Montreal, Canada.
​
Design Challenges
Eco-Emballages contracted with Azure Technologies, Inc. of Oak Park, IL, to build a custom sorting system that could be completely transported in a single trailer due to the high transport cost into the islands.
In particular, the city requested that the system:
• be complete, requiring no local fabrication or electrical installation beyond the hook-up to the facility electrical power due to the limited industrial supply available in the island.
• designed so it can be operated by no more than two workers and produce a sorted stream with better than 95% purity in all commodities.
• comply with all CE regulations and have a certificate of CE compliance, as it is part of the European community.
Azure Technologies designed a self-contained processing center on a trailer with retractable canvas sides.
- The complete system was built on a regular 53-foot long trailer with most of the equipment set and pre-wired
- Soft canvas sides allowed full access to equipment for operation and maintenance and control panel
- Electrical wiring including motors, safety switches and emergency stops all pre-wired to the main control panels in full compliance to CE regulations
- The system included an Eddy Current separator, Aluminum and Steel can crushers and a plastics compactor
- Installation, both mechanical and electrical completed in three days with just two assembly workers.
- The system operated satisfactorily exceeding the design rate and quality specs with two operators.