NWRA names FCC’s Dallas MRF Best Recycling Facility

FCC Environmental Services, the U.S. subsidiary of the Madrid-based global environmental services company FCC, has announced its material recovery facility (MRF) in Dallas has been named the Best Recycling Facility of the Year 2017 in North America by the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), Arlington, Virginia.

This award recognizes the facility that demonstrates leadership in key measurements, such as innovation, quantity of materials collected and/or processed, types of materials recovered, site improvements or sustainability measures adopted, according to the NWRA. (Read more about FCC’s Dallas MRF in the August 2017 Recycling Today article, “Operations milestone,” available here.)

In November 2015, the city of Dallas awarded FCC the contract for the design, construction and operation of a single-stream MRF to process the city’s recyclables. With the latest sorting and classification techniques, including optical sorters, as well as gravimetric sorting machines all housed in a 60,000-square-foot building, the plant can handle more than 40 tons per hour of single-stream material. Van Dyk Recycling Solutions (VDRS), Stamford, Connecticut, supplied the single-stream sorting system for the MRF.

The facility, which began operations Jan. 1, 2017, is expected to process around 80,000 tons in its first year with a total capacity of 140,000 tons per year.

The site includes a 15,000-square foot-building that serves as the administrative and operations personnel offices. There also is an education center where FCC personnel teach and train the community of Dallas about the importance and benefits of recycling. Construction on the facility started in March 2016 and was completed in December of the same year.

“This MRF is a critical piece of infrastructure because all single stream recyclable material from the city of Dallas, and surrounding areas, will be processed here over the next 15 years with a possible extension for an additional 10 years,” says FCC. “As the contract also gives the provider the exclusive rights to the material from all recyclable waste containers in the city of Dallas for its duration, its successful delivery is vital to achieving the city’s ambitious efforts to increase waste diversion to 40 percent by 2020, 60 percent by 2030 and 80 percent (‘zero waste’) by 2040.”

Inigo Sanz, CEO of FCC Environmental Services, says, “We are delighted to win this prestigious award for the Dallas MRF. FCC is a company that provides high-added value based on more than 115 years of experience. We export our know-how, our consolidated experience and a large portfolio of references worldwide.”

Sanz continues, “We have a magnificent team of highly specialized professionals that operate in all branches of engineering, and we provide knowledge, technology and innovation to every project we carry out. In addition, we have a strongly implemented corporate responsibility policy, which stems from senior management, and which is based on supporting the local communities where we operate.”

The NWRA is the leading organization providing leadership, advocacy, research, education and safety expertise for the waste and recycling industries. NWRA advocates at the federal, state and local levels on all issues of importance to its member companies as they provide safe, economically sustainable and environmentally sound services to communities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

FCC Group is a leading global provider of environmental services, water management and infrastructure works. With more than 115 years of experience, FCC has a presence in more than 35 countries. The company has more than 54,000 employees worldwide.

The environmental services division of the company has been active for more than 100 years and says it has built its success on a commitment to innovation and to helping cities become smarter, more sustainable and more socially conscious. FCC Environmental Services serves more than 59 million people in more than 5,000 municipalities across 13 countries. It has a network of more than 200 recycling and recovery facilities that process in excess of 24 million tons every year.

In 2017, the company says it has had some notable successes. FCC has been awarded contracts to process recyclable material from the Texas cities of Garland, Mesquite and Rowlett at the Dallas MRF. In Rowlett, the company also will deliver the waste collection service.

In June 2017 Envirecover, FCC’s Severn Waste Services energy from waste facility, was officially opened, serving the counties of Worcestershire and Herefordshire in the UK. Construction also has progressed at the Recycling and Energy Recovery Centre in Edinburgh and Midlothian, after work started at the end of 2016. In September 2017, FCC also secured a contract to cleanse the streets and collect waste in the city of Bilbao, Spain, serving a population of almost 350,000 and generating a backlog of 173.4 million euros.