Applications / Municipal Solid Waste

MSW Shredder Machines for Municipal Waste Processing

Municipal solid waste is the most variable stream a shredder is likely to see. Not all unsorted MSW is automatically suitable, so configuration follows a review of the actual stream.

Technical Summary

Processing objective: Bulk reduction and material liberation ahead of screening, separation or treatment.

Starting duty category: Medium Duty for regular processing, Heavy Duty for bulky or continuous work

Representative model: AIS-DS-75-H150-P for MSW and RDF primary reduction

Indicative input range: Confirmed after review of sorting level and bulky item frequency

Indicative output requirement: Set by the downstream screening, separation or treatment stage

Main selection concern: Sorting level, moisture, organic content and bulky items.

Material restriction: Oversized metal, stone and prohibited foreign objects must be removed before feeding.

Material Overview

Municipal solid waste arriving at a transfer station or processing facility contains almost everything: packaging, organics, textiles, plastics, wood, metal and whatever else entered the collection system. It arrives loose, bagged or compacted, and its composition shifts with the season and the collection area.

Not all unsorted MSW is automatically suitable for shredding as received. What a machine can handle depends on the sorting level, the moisture and organic content, the contamination present, the frequency of bulky items, how consistently the material is fed, the operating hours and what the downstream process requires. Each of those is reviewed before a configuration is agreed.

Why Size Reduction Is Required

Size reduction is rarely the goal in itself. It is normally there to make the next stage work.

Municipal solid waste application

Image required: Municipal solid waste application.

  • Screening, separation and recovery stages generally need a reduced and more even feed.
  • Bulk reduction lowers the volume handled in storage and transport.
  • Bag opening and material liberation are often part of what the shredding stage achieves.
  • Downstream biological or thermal treatment stages usually specify a feed size.
  • A more consistent feed supports steadier operation of the equipment that follows.

What the Configuration Depends On

Sorting level

Whether the stream is unsorted, partly sorted or pre-screened changes what reaches the cutting zone and therefore the duty category.

Moisture and organic content

Wet organic content affects handling, discharge and hygiene arrangements around the machine.

Contamination

Incidental contaminants must be disclosed. Oversized metal, stone and prohibited foreign objects should be removed before feeding.

Bulky items

How often large or rigid items appear in the stream is one of the main factors separating medium duty from heavy duty.

Feeding consistency

Grab, loader or heavy conveyor feeding each change how evenly the machine is loaded through a shift.

Operating hours and downstream process

Extended running and a tight downstream specification both push the configuration upward.

Configuring the Machine for Municipal Solid Waste

MSW work generally starts at medium duty, with AIS-DS-75-H150-P a representative primary model for MSW and RDF. Smaller volumes at a collection point handling partly sorted waste can sit lower in the medium duty range.

Transfer stations and processing plants running continuously on bulky, unsorted collected waste move to the heavy duty range. The light duty range is not suited to genuine mixed MSW, because the controlled-feed conditions it depends on do not hold in this stream.

Mixed waste may contain incidental contaminants, but their type, size and frequency must be disclosed during selection. Oversized metal, stone and prohibited foreign objects should be removed before feeding unless explicitly approved for the agreed machine configuration.

Common questions

Questions We Are Usually Asked

Double shaft shredders are widely used on mixed waste, but suitability is not automatic. It depends on the sorting level, contamination, bulky item frequency and how continuously the machine will run.

Incidental contaminants are factored into the configuration and must be disclosed. Oversized metal and prohibited foreign objects have to be removed before feeding.

Reduction generally opens bagged material as part of the process, though whether that is sufficient for your downstream stage depends on your process design.

Your daily volume, the sorting level, how the waste is delivered to the machine, the running hours expected and what happens to the material afterwards.

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