Close
Trash being compacted at the Central Acceptance Facility

Central Acceptance Facility

Cockeysville, MD

Client:
Maryland Environmental Service, Baltimore County Department of Public Works
Markets:
Services:

KCI provided engineering services for the first publicly owned single-stream recycling facility in the state of Maryland.

Our team worked closely with the county and operator, the Maryland Environmental Service, to design the Central Acceptance Facility, which includes a new transfer facility, retrofitted material recycling facility and infrastructure improvements at the existing Baltimore County Resource Recovery Facility. Challenges centered around orchestrating a multi-phased design and construction approach to replace the existing transfer facility, upgrading the supporting infrastructure, and renovating a 55,000-square-foot building to house new sorting and baling equipment to support single-stream recycling, all while maintaining existing operations.

Demolition and replacement of the existing free-standing transfer facility was completed first to remove operations from the existing building and make space for the single-stream system. Although the transfer station and recycling plant were originally two separate projects, it quickly became apparent that overlap would be required to meet the required deadline. As Phase I work continued at the transfer station, structural improvements in the single-stream building were executed so that the equipment vendor could begin installation prior to the start of the Phase II infrastructure and building system upgrades.

The new two-bay, top loading transfer facility is significantly more efficient than its predecessor, now processing 1,200 tons of waste per day. The single-stream system maintains a throughput of 36 tons per hour or 250 tons of recyclables each day and can generate revenues between $20 and $30 per ton on the sale of recycled materials. Although the county originally estimated that the facility could return between $750,000 and $2 million annually after expenses, after six months revenues topped $2.3 million, vastly exceeding its proforma. The county’s nearly 900,000 residents can now take advantage of a more efficient and effective solid waste facility, environmentally sustainable single-stream recycling, and future tax relief based on income projections from the highly successful Central Acceptance Facility.