AES helped Rumpke Recycling improve material recovery operations with a custom plastic bag capture system that removes plastic bags from pre-sort conveyors and conveys them through an air system to an AES AirShark™ rotary material separator.
Overview
Rumpke Waste and Recycling provides curbside waste collection services and operates landfills and recycling centers across Ohio. As part of its new material recovery facility in Cincinnati, Rumpke needed a better way to remove plastic bags from the recycling stream.
Plastic bags can reduce the value of recyclables, clog processing equipment, and create safety risks for workers who have to remove tangled bags from machinery. AES was selected to provide a turnkey bag capture system designed to improve material quality, reduce equipment issues, and create a safer, more efficient work environment.
What problem did AES solve?
Rumpke needed to remove plastic bags from the recycling stream at multiple points along the pre-sort conveyors. The system had to capture bags efficiently, move them away from the sorting area, and separate the collected material through a reliable air conveyance process.
AES provided a custom-designed bag capture system that allowed operators to remove plastic bags from multiple pre-sort locations and send them through capture hoods into a pneumatic air conveyance system. From there, the material was conveyed to the AES AirShark™ rotary material separator.
Scope of Work
- Project Design & Engineering
- Pneumatic Air Conveyance Ducting & Fans
- AirShark™ Rotary Material Separator
- Fabrication of Capture Hoods
- Mezzanine & Support Fabrication
- Rigging & Millwrighting
- Mechanical Installation
- Electrical Installation
- System Start-Up, Commissioning and Training
- Project Management
The Challenge
Rumpke’s new Cincinnati MRF needed an effective way to remove plastic bags from the recycling stream before they could reduce material quality or interfere with downstream processing equipment.
Plastic bags are a common challenge in material recovery facilities because they can wrap around machinery, clog equipment, and create safety risks for workers responsible for removing tangled bags by hand. Rumpke needed a system that would improve bag removal while supporting safer and more efficient sorting operations.
The main challenges we had to address:
- Plastic bags were reducing the value of recyclable materials.
- Bags could clog process machinery and interrupt material flow.
- Workers faced safety risks when removing tangled bags from equipment.
- Operators needed bag capture access at multiple points along the pre-sort conveyors.
- Captured bags needed to be conveyed away from the sorting area efficiently.
- The system had to integrate with Rumpke’s new MRF layout and operations.
AES needed to provide a complete turnkey system that combined project design, engineering, capture hoods, air conveyance, material separation, fabrication, installation, startup, commissioning, and training into one coordinated solution.
The AES Solution
AES designed and installed a custom plastic bag capture system for Rumpke’s new Cincinnati MRF. The system allows operators to remove plastic bags at multiple points along the pre-sort conveyors and send them up through capture hoods.
Once captured, the bags are pulled through a pneumatic air conveyance system and delivered to the AES AirShark™ rotary material separator. The complete turnkey package included project design, equipment selection, system integration, fabrication, rigging, installation, startup, commissioning, and training.
AES System Components
The plastic bag capture system included:
- Pneumatic air conveyance ducting
- Material handling fans
- AES AirShark™ rotary material separator
- Custom capture hoods
- Mezzanine fabrication
- Structural support fabrication
- Rigging and millwrighting
- Mechanical installation
- Electrical installation
- Custom integrated bag capture and conveyance layout
The completed system gave Rumpke a practical way to remove plastic bags from multiple pre-sort conveyor locations and convey them away from the sorting area through an integrated air system.
By combining capture hoods, pneumatic conveyance, AirShark™ separation, fabrication, installation, commissioning, and training, AES helped Rumpke support cleaner recyclables and a safer, more efficient MRF operation.
The Results
With the new plastic bag capture system in place, Rumpke gained an efficient way to remove bags from the recycling stream before they could reduce material value, clog equipment, or create safety issues for workers.
The AirShark™ system helped Rumpke produce cleaner, higher-value recyclables while supporting a safer and more efficient work environment inside the new Cincinnati MRF.
Download the Full Case Study
Download the complete Rumpke Recycling case study to see how AES designed and installed a turnkey plastic bag capture system with capture hoods, pneumatic air conveyance, AirShark™ separation, fabrication, installation, commissioning, and training.
A Plastic Bag Capture System Built for Cleaner, Safer MRF Operations
This project shows how a properly engineered bag capture and air conveyance system can improve more than material movement. For Rumpke Recycling, AES helped reduce the impact of plastic bags in the recycling stream, support cleaner recovered materials, and create a safer environment for operators and maintenance teams.
For material recovery facilities, recycling centers, and waste processing operations dealing with plastic bags, film, and other lightweight contaminants, AES designs custom systems around the real sorting environment, conveyor layout, material flow, safety needs, and long-term operating goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
A plastic bag capture system helps remove plastic bags and film from recycling lines, then conveys the captured material away from the sorting area for separation or collection.
Plastic bags can lower the value of recyclables, clog processing equipment, wrap around machinery, and create safety risks for workers who have to remove tangled bags by hand.
The system included capture hoods, pneumatic air conveyance ducting, material handling fans, an AES AirShark™ rotary material separator, mezzanine and support fabrication, mechanical installation, electrical installation, commissioning, and training.
Operators remove plastic bags at multiple points along the pre-sort conveyors and send them through capture hoods. The bags are then conveyed through an air system to the AirShark™ separator.
Yes. AES designs and installs custom bag capture, air conveyance, separation, fabrication, and turnkey installation systems for material recovery facilities and recycling operations.
