Millennium Recycling News
November 2016

How Are We Doing?
Quality Alert
Plastic Film 
Plastic film can cause quite a headache at our facility. If its loose, it can get stuck in our equipment and shut us down. Please make sure it is bagged in a CLEAR bag and tightly closed when it arrives at our facility.
Thanks for your help!
Don't miss the upcoming industry meeting!
Industry professionals will come together to discuss the City of Sioux Falls recycling education efforts for the upcoming year. Come, listen, participate:

Wednesday, November 30th
5:00 PM
Environmental Center
Sioux Falls, SD
STAY INFORMED:
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The _Evolving Ton_
Over the past five years, MRFs have found that it requires a much greater volume of material (estimated at 20% more), to produce one ton of recycled material than previously needed. This has become known as the "Evolving Ton" .

The changing material makeup and  lightweighting of the waste stream has led to  greater costs and difficulty when trying to process it:

- Newspaper is down 30-50% and is expected to continue to drop another 40% in the next 5 years. 

- Plastics are up 15-20% and is expected to climb, but traditional recyclables such as PET and HDPE bottles are being replaced by more difficult items with limited end markets and lower quality.

- OCC has doubled and will continue to climb.

- Residue has also doubled.

 

At current recycled commodity price levels, many companies are not covering the cost of processing and are not willing to invest in more complex (and expensive) machinery to handle this changing waste stream. Across the industry, MRF processing costs are up, and downtime due to contamination or equipment maintenance is estimated to cost over $95 per minute! 


 At Millennium, we are committed to serving you and our community and will continue to invest in innovation and diversion to stay relevant and keep up with the "Evolving Ton". Help us continue to spread awareness and education on what can and can't be recycled in our area. We provide free onsite waste audits, recycling tours, and printed copies of our guide for you to handout to your customers. Download the electronic version here: www.millenniumrecycling.com/guide.
How to View Your Reports:

As a Millennium customer, you have access to on-demand reports right at your fingertips. You can login to the customer portal to view material grades, origins, weights and monthly statements. See directions for the customer portal here:   www.millenniumrecycling.com/portalinfo

You can also view photos for evidence of any downgrade you receive. This not only helps you see the material, but also provides you with a tool to bring back to the generator to educate them on what they can and cannot include. See directions on accessing photos here:   www.millenniumrecycling.com/downgrades
Resources Just For You:

Our non-profit partner organization,  Ecomaniacs , offers free facility tours, group presentations, and event clean-up support. If you have a customer  inquiring  about any of these services, let us know and we'd be happy to help you out! 

Our simple waste audit can help reduce contamination and increase your recycling rate. Contact us to schedule an on-location waste audit with your commercial customers. 

Get quick access to hauler educational tools, guidelines and resources all in one place. 
 
MILLENNIUM'S QUARTERLY NEWS
"On the Line" is our quarterly newsletter meant to keep you i nformed on current events at our facility, in our community and in the recycling industry. If you want to hear about a topic or have a question you want us to answer, please let us know! We look forward to keeping you updated, thanks for your continued partnership as a Millennium Recycling customer.