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2022 MRF Capacity Survey

The Recycling and Materials Management Section (RMMS) at the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality requests your help in improving our understanding of Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) capacity across our state.
 
 
With constantly changing market conditions, there is an urgent need to better understand MRF capacity in our state for the processing of commingled recyclables. RMMS requests your help in gathering this information. This information will be anonymous; MRF names will not be identified with the provided responses. All data will be aggregated to summarize general trends. 
 
 
The following questions will help our staff gauge capacity so that we can offer more accurate assistance to local governments and recycling businesses. Please contact Matt James at (919) 707-8133 or matt.james@ncdenr.gov or Sandy Skolochenko at (919) 707-8147 or sandy.skolochenko@ncdenr.gov if you have any questions about the survey. Thanks for your help!
1.What MRF do you represent? 
2.What is your name?
3.What is your current maximum processing capacity in tons per month?
4.Did COVID affect processing capacity and how? 
5.Is your MRF currently operating at full (maximum) capacity?
6.If not, what is your current throughput?
7.What percentage of your tons is contracted? 
8.Have you had to turn non-contracted tons away from your facility due to lack of processing capacity? 
9.Are you actively seeking new customers to fill your facility's processing capacity?
10.If so, how far from your facility do you typically extend your customer base?
11.Have you made any equipment upgrades during the past year?
12.If so, please explain what upgrades have been made and the process improvement that the change made (i.e., increased processing capacity, improved material quality, etc.).
13.Optional: How much did the facility upgrade cost?
14.Do you have any immediate plans for capacity expansion?
15.If so, please explain. 
16.If grants were available, what equipment would you like to add to your facility?
17.How many full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs do you have now vs. a year ago?
18.What is your facility’s overall contamination rate?
19.Do you charge fees for highly contaminated loads? If so, please explain your fee policy.  
20.What have you done to work with customers to reduce contamination?
21.Do you track contamination rates from each municipal or commercial customer in order to provide direct feedback on amounts and sources of contamination? 
22.How have you adjusted operations in response to changing market conditions over the last year?
23.Please list what percentage of your materials are sold to end markets in the following locations:
24.Is there a material you have difficulty selling to end markets?