The process at our facilities. . . .
MWPC accepts garbage from individuals, businesses and haulers. Waste is brought to our Mankato transfer station.
What happens to your garbage?
From MWPC, the waste is sent to Resource Recovery Technologies waste processing facility in Newport, Minnesota. The waste is dumped onto a tipping floor and inspected. Trained staff inspect the waste for any prohibited materials or bulky items such as mattresses, carpets, furniture, windshields, and batteries - these items are removed before the waste is further processed.
Waste is then transported via conveyors to a shredder. Here, the waste is shredded in a large hammer mill with a 6-inch screen. The materials are then separated mechanically by size and density. A magnetic separator then pulls out magnetic and ferrous materials. Aluminum or non-ferrous beverage and food containers are pulled out of the waste by an “eddy current separator.” The remaining materials are then passed through a series of discs and screens to further remove any non-burnable material and to further process the waste until it is in 5 inch pieces or smaller. The waste is now considered Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) and is ready to be transported to a power plant.
The burnable materials are sent to the Wilmarth Power Plant in Mankato to produce electrical energy. The non-usable fraction, which is typically 9% or less, is placed in a landfill cell dedicated to processing rejects.
The Newport Resource Recovery Facility processes approximately 425,000 tons per year of municipal solid waste into RDF.