{"id":11082,"date":"2016-06-13T11:59:14","date_gmt":"2016-06-13T15:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wasteadvantagemag.com\/?p=11082"},"modified":"2016-06-13T11:59:14","modified_gmt":"2016-06-13T15:59:14","slug":"dirty-mrfs-produce-lower-quality-higher-contaminated-recovered-paper-according-to-new-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wasteadvantagemag.com\/dirty-mrfs-produce-lower-quality-higher-contaminated-recovered-paper-according-to-new-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Dirty MRFs Produce Lower Quality, Higher Contaminated Recovered Paper According to New Report"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) today released the final results of a study revealing paper mill buyers perceive scrap paper generated by Mixed Waste Processing Facilities (Dirty MRFs) is \u201cgenerally deemed unusable by pulp and paper mills.\u201d The report, \u201cMixed Waste Processing & Desirability of Recovered Paper Market Survey,\u201d indicated that these perceptions are based on the fibers\u2019 close encounters with organic and putrescible waste that causes the material to become susceptible to a host of undesirable quality issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn communities across the country, we have seen one-bin systems continually fail,\u201d said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI. \u201cThis report provides hard data as to why, and that is because where mixed-waste processing is used, the recycling of paper is significantly diminished, both in quality and quantity. There is little, if any, market for such paper. Communities that are still debating between one-bin and dual stream operations can now better make an informed decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
The survey found that 25 percent of the respondents purchased paper from Dirty MRFs, and 70 percent of those purchasers found the quality of paper \u201cto be worse than other recovered paper.\u201d Due to this experience, 90 percent of those purchasers have had to reject or downgrade mixed waste recovered paper at a higher rate than recovered paper from regular Dirty MRFs. None of the participants used Dirty MRFs as their majority material supplier.<\/p>\n
There were a number of reasons that participants listed as to why they would not purchase paper from Dirty MRFs:<\/p>\n
The study was a response to a debate surrounding the quality of recovered fiber being generated by Dirty MRFs. It was in the form of an online survey administered during the second and third week of January 2016. There were 41 participants in this study. The conductors of the study obtained the names of their participators through ISRI\u2019s online database to ensure that they would be members of the industry and have prior knowledge and history with Dirty MRFs.<\/p>\n