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Welcome to the Virtual Tour Video  of the MRF (see script below).

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 Welcome to SOCRRA’s virtual tour of the Materials Recovery Facility, also known as a MRF.   In this tour we will be exploring the different operations here, such as the recyclables separation, hazardous waste collection, and the drop off center.  Here at the MRF, trucks drop off recyclables, which are then sorted and baled and ready for recycling. Let’s take a look at the recovery process. As trucks pull up to the building, they drive onto this large scale to be weighed.  This gives the scale operator an accurate record of how many tons of recyclables pass through the MRF each day (55 tons on average).  Once they are cleared, the trucks enter the facility and deposit their materials into two piles, fibers and mixed containers.  The fiber (newspaper, magazines, office paper, junk mail, phone books, paperback books, boxboard, cardboard) is then loaded onto a conveyer belt and transported to the upper level where it is sorted by hand.  Here, workers first remove all non-fiber material such as trash and plastics.  Then they separate the brown fiber material, such as cardboard and brown paper bags, from all other fiber material, such as magazines, newspapers, and office paper.  The fiber then falls through a shoot onto a second conveyer for a final sort by hand.  The final product is then transported to the baler.  The baler compresses large volumes of recyclables into tighter, more compact bales.  These bales are then bound together by metal wire.  The process is now complete.  The bales are stored here at the MRF ready for shipment to various manufacturers. 

 Mixed containers (plastic bottles, clear and brown glass bottles, metal cans, small scrap metal items, and miscellaneous plastic containers) are also recycled at the MRF.  Trucks drop off these containers where they are temporarily stored in these piles. The process for sorting and baling mixed containers is similar to the fiber process introduced earlier.  Just like the fiber line, containers are also transported by conveyer belt to the upper level where they are first sorted by hand to start the sorting process.  The containers continue down the line where a large rotating magnet picks up any ferrous metal items in the recyclables and separates it from the containers.  The magnet throws the metals onto another conveyer belt where they are collected and the containers continue on the original conveyer belt.  The containers are then separated by hand into different compartments.  These compartments include: solid colored plastics, clear plastics, milk jugs, batteries, and nonferrous metals.  Trash is then removed and the remaining brown and clear glass is sent outside and collected in a roll off.  Small pieces of glass fall through the screen and are separated from the large pieces.  Just like the fiber line, the materials in each compartment are baled and stored, ready for pickup.

 Here we have SOCRRA’s brand new drop off center.  This is where the residents can drop off their recyclables.  There are three large bins for recyclables: 1) scrap metal, 2) plastic, metal, and glass containers, and 3) fiber.  There are also four sheds to recycle plastic bags, to shred paper, to recycle hardcover books and large batteries.  Here’s how a resident would dispose of hazardous waste and old electronics.  We ask the resident to make an appointment, giving our HazMat technician sufficient time to take care of the materials.  After making an appointment, the resident would come here to our HazMat trailer.  The HazMat technician will greet the resident, check for proper identification, and then have the resident fill out a form describing the materials that he or she is bringing in.  Here is the corral where all hazardous waste is stored until it is shipped out.  Stored here are pesticides, gasoline, kerosene, acids, oxidizers, household cleaners, paint, and many other hazardous materials.  Here is SOCRRA’s education facility.  This is where all of the tours take place.  During a tour, a resident will learn about what he or she can or cannot recycle. 

 This concludes SOCRRA’s virtual tour of the Materials Recovery Facility.  Thank you for watching and thank you for recycling.