On Tuesday, Aug. 6, Rumpke Waste & Recycling celebrated its new 226,000-square-foot recycling and resource center in Columbus, Ohio with a large ribbon cutting ceremony. The event drew in state, industry, and community leaders to commemorate the achievement.
Opened on June 1, Rumpke Recycling & Resource Center processes up to 250,000 tons of recycled materials per year from more than 50 Ohio counties. More than 90 percent of the material processed at the new facility goes to end-users in Ohio.
“Our Rumpke Recycling & Resource Center ensures enough recycling capacity to serve the long-term needs as the region’s commercial development continues and the population tops an estimated three million,” said Andrew Rumpke, president at Rumpke. “The [facility] features the best recycling technology in the world providing us with the potential to sort more materials, more efficiently.”
This material recovery facility (MRF) includes 19 optic sorters, artificial intelligence, ballistic separators, and trommel equipment. The recycling center has three tipping floors totaling 48,000 square feet. The main 32,000-square-foot tipping area is for residential material, the second 11,000-square-foot tipping floor is for commercial material, and a third 5,000-square-foot tipping floor is for material sampling and auditing, which quickly provides municipal and commercial customers with a thorough evaluation of their recycling efforts.
The new MRF increases processing capability from 160,000 tons of material a year to 250,000 tons and increases material processing speed to a minimum of 60 tons per hour versus 30 tons per hour. Built with evolution in mind, cranes inside the facility allow for equipment upgrades as future technology comes online and the composition of recycling material changes.
The company also created a 3,000-square-foot education center designed in collaboration with COSI (the Center of Science & Industry) to help the public learn about recycling. Groups of attendees ages 10 and up can schedule tours starting in October and the exhibit allows visitors to shop at a sustainable market, scan products to determine recyclability, enjoy interactive video games, play with an interactive model of the recycling facility, and see the products that recycling creates.
The first floor features a career center for Rumpke’s CDL, customer service, sales, leadership, and continuing education programs. The second floor features a Research and Development Center, where schools and universities can work with Rumpke to research and study better ways to recycle. Rumpke has already cooperated with Ohio State students and hopes to work with other local schools.
Rumpke noted that the company provides an essential component of the region and country’s circular economy.
“Given our mission to deliver exceptional waste and recycling solutions to our customers and communities through a commitment to safety, service the environment, and the growth of our people, we must always strategically plan well into the future to meet our customer’s needs by investing, innovating, and providing the best options for society’s waste,” he said.
