Increasing Recycling Revenue: The Oshkosh Story
A recent look at the 2014 Zero Landfill Reports for Coldfill plants revealed a startling fact – 13 plants had recycling revenue exceeding $80,000 per year. How are they doing this? What can be done at other plants to increase recycling revenue to these levels?
A closer look at the recycling details uncovered some interesting facts. One of the findings showed that plants with the highest annual recycling revenue also have regional product destruction operations; the aluminum resulting from these operations substantially increases recycling revenue. But even when you remove aluminum and regional product destruction recycling income from the revenue, a few plants still remain with high recycling revenue. The Oshkosh, Phoenix and Las Vegas Coldfill plants stand out as having the highest recycling revenue per ton without including aluminum generated from product destruction operations. After aluminum and PET, cardboard (OCC) is the most profitable recyclable when it is baled or sold to a re-box program. Tampa had $33,800 in recycling revenue and almost $27,000 of it was generated by cardboard – one of the highest revenues for cardboard in the company.
How do they do it? We asked Chad Brotherton and Bob Tosic of the Oshkosh Coldfill plant to fill us in on the secrets of an outstanding recycling program. The Oshkosh Coldfill plant generates some of the highest recycling revenue per ton in the company. In 2014, Oshkosh averaged $103 per ton of recyclables (excluding aluminum revenue). Chad and Bob highlighted three steps they have taken to assure maximum revenue for recyclables:
- Assign someone to "own" the recycling program
- Reduce shipping costs by packing trucks with recyclables more effectively
- Ensure that bales are clean and are at maximum weight
Wayne Allison, lead mechanic at the Oshkosh plant is in charge of the baling and trailer loading operations. He ensures that bales contain enough clean, rinsed, and liquid-free material to produce high quality bales at top weight. Oshkosh maintains and works with its supplier to fine-tune its baler to deliver the maximum weight per bale. Below is a chart with ideal weights for bales of recyclables.
| 60 inch Baler Ideal Bale Weights | |
|---|---|
| Material | Weight per Bale (pounds) |
| HDPE 55 gallon drums | 500 (approximately 34 drums) |
| PET beverage containers | 240 (12 inch cube) |
| LDPE stretch film | 900 - 1000 |
| Aluminum cans | 1000 |
| Cardboard/OCC | 1000 |
If you do nothing else, make sure that your trucks are full and well packed before sending them to the recycler. The cost to transport recyclables to the recycling center is a major factor in decreasing recycling profits. The average cost to transport a trailer to the recycling center is $250 per haul, so it is important that the load be maximized. A trailer with of bales of OCC, stretch film, PET bottles and HDPE drums should weigh 16 to 18 tons fully loaded.
Wayne is also in charge of trailer loading. Bale loading processes have been streamlined so that bales can be placed directly in the trailer, minimizing handling and storage. The lead mechanic assures bales are placed on the truck as closely as possible to decrease the amount of empty space that is transported. To further increase the revenue, Oshkosh transports the recyclables themselves and communicates with their recycler when trailer loads are ready. They also inform the recycler of the materials that are on the trailer and ensure all bales are mill ready. The processes and communication from beginning to end assures that top dollar is received.
"We have production, fleet, sales, laboratory, and warehouse personnel all onboard with our processes," noted Chad. "Results of our recycling efforts are posted throughout the plant and recycling success is celebrated at the annual minor league baseball game."
In 2014, the average revenue at the coldfill plants was $37.26 per ton of recyclables. This year thru March, the coldfill plants have increased that amount to $78 per ton of recyclables – a considerable increase in the right direction. If all the coldfill plants were to average $103 per ton of recyclables, recycling revenue would increase by $4.7 million in 2015 when compared to 2014. Even though recycling markets have decreased the price per ton paid in 2015 (driven by reduced oil prices), the increase in revenue per ton in 2015 has shown that proper management and loading of recyclables pays off.
(Very Green reminder at entrance to Oshkosh plant)