Municipal Materials Recovery & Composting Facility Study: New York, NY
A materials recovery and composting facility (MRC, pronounced merc) is designed to recover as much recyclable and degradable materials as possible from the waste stream. Simply stated, a MRC is a municipal solid waste composting facility combined with a mixed-waste materials recovery facility. This report describes a project initiated by the New York City Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse, and Recycling to determine the state of municipal solid waste (MSW) composting technology, to examine the quality of compost produced from this technology, to present a proposal for testing the technology, and to assess the viability of the construction of a MRC facility.
The study provides analysis on representative samples and the resulting quality, as well as the recycling recovery rate achieved by the process. It also assesses general performance of other MSW-composting facilities in terms of quality, odor control, process efficiency, and other applicable factors. Lastly, the report outlines the components of a successful MRC facility, cost and recovery rate estimating methods.
This report is remarkable for its depth of coverage. Readers with a high level of technical expertise will appreciate the investigatory rigor and details presented in Sections 2 through 4. Sections 5 through 8 provide a substantive discussion of the issues related to constructing a Materials Recovery & Composting facility. At the very least, the reader will receive a thorough education in the capital infrastructure and operations of such facilities.
