Envision CEO receives mixed-waste processing device patent

Steve Viny's invention designed for simultaneous screening of material by density and shape.

  • December 16, 2015
  • Recycling Today Staff

Cleveland-based Envision Waste Services LLC has announced the U.S. Patent Office awarded Patent No. 9,199,280 B2 to its CEO Steven Viny. The patent is entitled “Apparatus and Method for Separating Solid Waste.”

Viny is a 35-year veteran of the solid waste industry and considered by many a pioneer in mixed-waste processing and recycling. He also has served as international president of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, and was the first private-sector officer in the association’s history.

“I am very proud of this new cutting edge invention,” says Viny. “Separating solid waste is not an easy task. The ability to liberate clean, market spec recyclables from solid waste requires equipment that is robust enough to operate daily without fail, yet highly sensitive with the possibility for fine levels of adjustment to assure exacting separation.

He adds, “This new device jettisons the reality of mixed waste processing or even single stream recyclable processing to an entirely new level.”

This new invention represents a breakthrough in the way that mixed waste and or single stream recyclables are processed, according to Envision. Traditionally, waste and recyclables are screened based on density, size or shape using rotational devices that are prone to wrapping and clogging. This reduces screen efficiency and material quality. Further, traditional screens have limited adjustment possibilities and often those adjustments require considerable time and additional parts.

This new invention allows for the screening of material by density and shape simultaneously in a manner that eliminates wrapping and clogging while at the same time providing many levels of just-in-time adjustment for a high degree of control, the company says.

This invention complements Envision’s miniMRF line of waste processing equipment, but it also may be incorporated into existing mixed waste processing or single-stream recyclables processing systems, the company says.

More information is available at www.envisionwaste.net.