Issues facing MRFs regarding material output quality Mike Falconer Hall Programme Manager – Materials Recycling WRAP

Why is quality important?  Quality is important in any product  Easier to sell  Financial reward  Compliance to a ‘specification’  Legal compliance (destination country’s and UK’s)  Availability of material in a global market  Develops relationship with end users  As the market matures quality gives a competitive advantage

Municipal Collection  Waste Streams QUALITY MATERIALS CO 2 savings MRF Reprocessors Re-use, recycle  Management Systems  Sampling  Measurement  Technical  Standards  Contractual arrangements  Advocacy  Local Authorities  Collections

What can Local Authorities do?  Educate and promote best practise  Reward good practise and ‘deal’ with those who contaminate material  Look at potential quality issues when designing collection schemes  Request quality data from the MRF to inform decisions and monitor progress  Link gate fees to output quality in contracts?

What can MRFs do?  Manage quality throughout the process  Collect and evaluate important data:  Quality – in / out / residue  Input quality vs. production throughput  Production throughput vs. output quality  Monitor and maintain equipment  Train staff and develop a quality culture  Work with the Local Authorities  Understand the reprocessing process

What can MRFs do? - equipment  Wide variety of MRF manufacturers  UK providers have a better understanding of UK needs  Plant configuration  Plant capacity  Performance guarantee

What can MRFs do? - input specification  Contract documentation  Input materials  Mix of materials  Level of contamination  Age  Storage methods  Level of compaction  Quality of materials (e.g. wet paper)  Sampling  Agreement on rejection procedure

What can MRFs do? - processing  Quality management systems  Appropriate for each Local Authorities’ materials  Speed of process  Flexibility of process  Sampling with regular feedback to operatives  Material storage  Good housekeeping  Spillages must go back to the input stockpile

What can MRFs do? - output specification  Agreement with end user  Sampling off the line (or off the bale)  Understanding market conditions  Make a consistent product  Training of staff  Regulations

The cost to MRFs of poor quality  Reduced revenue for material (ongoing if consistency in quality an issue)  Low / no demand when market conditions are poor  Risk of prosecution and costs (direct and indirect)  Cost of rework  Cost of returning goods  Cost of processing claims

Summary  Quality management makes financial sense  Each link in the supply chain needs to understand the operations and requirements of the others  Monitor the requirements of the market  Test outputs against these requirements  Communicate with all parts of the supply chain