Zanker Recycling and Athens Services honoured by SWANA The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) has announced the 2016 winners of the association’s annual Excellence Awards. San Jose, California-based Zanker Recycling was awarded the Recycling System Gold Award, the top honour, for its Demolition Recycling Operation. Silver was awarded to California-based Athens Services’ Sun Valley Mixed Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). Both systems were designed, engineered, manufactured and installed by Bulk Handling Systems (BHS). According to SWANA, “The Excellence Awards Programme recognises outstanding solid waste programmes and facilities with environmentally and economically sound solid waste management practices. Award winners represent the most innovative and dynamic organizations throughout North America as judged by their peers.” “The recipients of the SWANA Excellence Awards represent the best solid waste management practices in North America today,” said SWANA Executive Director and CEO David Biderman. Zanker Recycling’s 60 tons per hour (tph) Demolition Debris MRF processes a challenging type of material known as Interior Demolition, comprised of only 60 percent wood waste, said BHS. To best serve its customers’ LEED goals and the State’s diversion goals, BHS said Zanker Recycling decided that a highlyautomated process was needed to efficiently and effectively recover this material stream. Precise sizing with BHS Debris Roll Screens provides two consistently sized infeed streams to a total of four Nihot Single Drum Separators. The size fractions allow Nihot’s air classification technology to remove rock and then wood. The advanced system has helped Zanker Recycling increase its recycling rate to 86 percent, according to BHS. Athens Services’ Sun Valley MRF processes more than 70 tph of mixed commercial and multifamily waste. The system features BHS screen, Nihot air and NRT optical technology which is said to help recover more than 95% of available recyclables. Technology is in place to maximize the purity of end products, including NRT optical sorters to target fiber and plastic commodities, BHS added. Athens Services is said to operate in excess of 98 percent uptime, unmatched in a mixed material environment. According to the company, “With exceptional personnel, cross training and a deep understanding of our waste and equipment, the Sun Valley MRF produces commodities that surpass many Single Stream MRFs.” “SWANA’s core purpose relates to management of solid waste as a resource,” stated BHS Director of Sales Ted Pierpont. “It’s fitting then that they recognise Zanker Recycling and Athens Services, two companies that thoughtfully conceptualise resource recovery applied at a grand scale to diverse material streams. Combining their visions and BHS solutions, we were able to deliver noteworthy projects that positively impact resource management.” Headquartered in Eugene, OR, BHS is a global leader in the innovative design, engineering, manufacturing and installation of sorting systems and components for the solid waste, recycling, waste-to-energy, and construction and demolition industries. Whollyowned subsidiaries include Nihot (Amsterdam), NRT (Nashville, TN) and Zero Waste Energy (Lafayette, CA). “Clients around the globe choose BHS because of its experience, dedication to cutting-edge technology, quality construction and durability, and unmatched customer service. BHS has built some of the largest and most durable MRFs in the world – and they are achieving the highest throughput, recovery, and purity rates in the industry,” says BHS.