To the Landfill

While this trip only seemed like fun and games at the beginning, it is an education trip, so the prior two days were classes and today was a trip to the paper recycling plant/composting facility/incineration facilities. On Monday, we started having three hour lectures, and on Tuesday, we were assigned our first group project. My group will be working on plastic and glass policies in Europe and U.S., and seeing what improvements/suggestions we will have for the U.S.

Today we started off by going to the Papiro Sarda, or the Paper Recycling Plant. Papiro Sarda is the largest paper mill on the island, and receives half of the islands recycled paper. This paper recycling plant makes high quality paper and cardboard paper and cardboard for boxes. To begin the process for high quality paper, Papiro Sarda first buys the paper at the current stock price for paper (decided by in Milan). They put the paper in bales to reduce the volume (each bale weighs about 1500 lb).  

The paper is then put into a paper pulper, which blends the paper and water. The mixture is 5% paper and 95% water. This process is to remove any large impurities, such as staples. After an hour, it is then run through a strainer that removes everything larger then 8 mm. It was interesting seeing the paper mixed in the first step--I had no idea how involved making paper was, as I found out during the tour. However, it is good that this place is so efficient--only 5% of the paper brought in is lost during the construction of new paper. 

The next step is the weight separation. This removes all the graphite that is on the paper by using a hydro-cycle. This paper is then run through a 1.8 mm filter. The last filter is then used with the holes only being 0.35 mm. This mixture is then 2.5% fibers, 97.5% water. It is then placed into a centrifuge, and the new ratio is 1% fibers, 99% water, which makes the final stage. This mixture is then put onto a conveyer belt, and this drains most of the water. The rest of the water is then evaporator through the heat. A scanner reads the paper for quality control, to make sure that there is 7% fibers grams per square meter. The machine will adjust the valve to make sure the correct quantity is being mixed. The paper is then rolled up, and ready for shipping! 

Next we took a tour of cardboard facility. A fun fact they told us was that paper used at markets use to be made out of hay. This is no longer the case, but people still want the yellow paper, so they dye the paper to match the hay-colored paper. 

    Next facility we saw was a composting plant. They compost 65,000 tonnes of compost per year, and this is high quality house hold waste that can then be used for agriculture later. To begin, the compost is put into a room with regulated air for 30 days to speed up the composting, and is then placed outside for 60 days before it is ready to be tested in the lab for quality. This compost is 70% organic (food) and 30% yard waste.

Each ton is sold for 2 euros, even  though it cost 120 euros to make each ton. This company is not for profit, but they need to sell the compost for tracking purposes.

The last plant we visited was the incinerator. This plant served 600,000 people and is concerned was of the most advanced incinerators in Europe. This one was very complex, as it had to separate the hazard waste and the municipal solid waste.