Conversion from Dual to Single-Stream Recycling

Background

The Waste Commission of Scott County, IA, operated a dual-stream recycling material recov­ery facility in Davenport, Iowa since 1996. Foth assisted the commission to evaluate the feasibility of convert­ing the dual-stream collection and processing recycling system to single-stream, which included:

• Collection improvements
• Volume of recycling material
• Projected composition
• Projected market value of processed recyclables
• Sources of additional material
• Financial model for the system to identify costs, revenues and volumes that would create a viable single-stream system
• Concepts for conversion of the existing facility
• Methods for single-stream cart procurement

Approach

Foth developed and managed parallel processes for the design-bid-construction of building and site improvements and the commission’s procurement of processing equipment. The net change orders for the construction contracts for facility and equipment totaled approximately 2% of the total construction cost.

Results

The parallel approach saved the commission approximately $300,000 and reduced the project’s duration from design to start-up to approximately 13 months.  Material volumes being received during the first six months of operation exceeded the initial predictive modeling used in the financial feasibility analysis.