Commercial Materials Recycling Facility

The SWA Commercial Materials Recycling Facility (CMRF) opened in 1996 and was expanded in 2002.  In this 14,000 square foot facility the SWA sorts and bales recovered commercial paper and cardboard for sale to paper mills in the southeastern United States.

The facility is owned and operated by the SWA and employs eight full-time employees and 7-10 day laborers.  Current annual throughput is approximately 25,000 tons.

Collection vehicles and SWA tractor trailers deposit loads of cardboard (OCC), mixed paper (MP) and sorted white ledger (SWL) onto the tipping floor.  A wheel loader pushes the material into a feed hopper.  The material is then conveyed to a pre-sort station where large non-recyclable items are removed.

The material then goes over a disc screen that separates the OCC for baling.  The remaining material is conveyed to the main sort belt where small contaminants are removed.  The mixed paper is then baled.

The revenues from the sale of the finished products cover approximately 85% to 90% of the total owning and operating cost of the facility.

Local businesses and governmental agencies that transport source separated clean material to the CMRF have the opportunity to share in the revenue generated from the sale of the material they deliver by participating in the SWA's Commercial Material Purchase Program.