Rumpke to accept plastic clamshell containers for recycling

Following the opening of its new material recovery facility (MRF) in Columbus, Ohio, earlier this summer, Rumpke Waste & Recycling will expand the recyclables it accepts to include clamshell plastic containers. Acceptable items include thermoformed clear plastic carry-out containers, clear plastic fruit, berry and lettuce containers and clear plastic egg containers, which generally are made from polyethylene terephthalate, or PET.

Residents can start adding these containers to their recycling carts Nov. 1.

“Rumpke is the recycling leader and our customers are counting on us to provide the best and most innovative recycling options,” says Andrew Rumpke, president of the Cincinnati-based company. “The new technology at the Rumpke Recycling & Resource Center allows us to separate and process new types of recycling from the stream [and] our latest addition is the clamshell container.”

Image courtesy of Rumpke Waste & Recycling

The Rumpke Recycling & Resource Center covers 226,000 square feet and increases its material processing speed to a minimum of 60 tons per hour from 30 tons per hour while increasing the material recovery rate to 98 percent, the company says.

The MRF is built with evolution in mind and includes ceiling-mounted cranes to allow for equipment upgrades as future technology comes online and the composition of the material stream changes. The facility also includes a research and development area and career center.

Rumpke’s $100 million private investment to build its new recycling center doubles its processing capacity to 250,000 tons annually and includes 19 optic scanners that air paired with artificial intelligence to deliver cleaner and more efficient sorting of materials.

“New artificial intelligence and optic technology allows Rumpke to identify and sort plastic clamshells from other types of plastics within the recycling stream,” says Jeff Snyder, senior vice president of recycling and sustainability at Rumpke. ”Couple our innovations with the emergence of new, long-term end users, and we’ve created the foundation for the acceptance of clamshell container recycling in our region.”

Rumpke says it will bale the sorted clamshell containers and ship them to a manufacturer that will recycle them into plastic pellets to be used to manufacture various plastic products.

*This item was edited to clarify the areas where Rumpke will accept clamshell containers for processing.