“Boy, is it a great day in central Ohio. And I'm not just talking trash,” joked Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce Tuesday during the christening of the 226,000 square-foot Rumpke Recycling and Resource Center.
Rumpke lauds the new $100 million recycling center on Joyce Avenue near Linden as the largest and most technologically-advanced recycling center in North America.
The facility uses artificial intelligence to more efficiently sort plastic, cardboard, metals and other recyclables as they ride along a massive tangle of blue conveyor belts on the huge processing floor. Nineteen optical scanners use AI to detect the colors, shapes and depths of items, flag unwanted materials and sort like items.
“We're able to use artificial intelligence to go deeper into the material stream and divert items that we were previously not able to because we did not have that technology,” said Logan Miller, regional recycling manager for Rumpke.
The facility also has four ballistic separators that sort materials by structure and size and a state-of-the-art fire suppression system.
The center first started running in mid-June and employs about 60 people. That includes about 15 laborers who pull items that can’t be recycled off the lines during the day and afternoon.
Miller said that’s fewer laborers than would be at a less advanced recycling center. He said, however, that those jobs tend to be less desirable and can be dangerous.
“What we're looking to do in this facility is increase the skilled labor that we have,” said Miller, who said that includes technicians who will maintain the equipment.
The facility is expected to process up to 250,000 tons of recyclables annually. The materials will come from 50 of Ohio’s 88 counties.
The new building also includes an interactive education center that aims to make recycling fun and accessible for everyone.
It includes a mock grocery store that tells you which items are recyclable, bundles of recycled cardboard, aluminum, and plastic, and a mini trommel, which sorts materials by size. The exhibits are in collaboration with the Center of Science and Innovation.
"It is very fun. It's very interactive. And that was one of the main things, because it's like, you know, some people don't find recycling as fun as the people that work here,” said Molly Kennedy, a communications coordinator for Rumpke.
Kennedy said that young kids couldn’t tour Rumpke’s previous facility, but the new educational center is designed for all ages and is accessible.
Cincinnati-based Rumpke Waste and Recycling has more than 1.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers and operates landfills, transfer stations and recycling centers in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia.
