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  • The state-of-the-art Flip Screen sorts out ferrous and nonferrous materials from dirt, which can be sorted and recycled. The new technology, which was created in Australia, is now in use in Mt. Vernon at Milano Metals. The creator of the equipment, Sam Turnbull, was in Mt. Vernon this week to see the Flip Screen in action. TESA CULLI/REGISTER-NEWS

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February 5, 2010

Milano Metals receives Flip Screen

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — Milano Metals received a new cutting-edge piece of equipment this week that is designed to sort through dirt and remove additional material for recycling.

“The idea for the Flip Screen intrigued us because it separates dirt from reclaimable ferrous and non-ferrous material. Instead of six men doing that project on a shaker table, then moving the table to another pile of dirt ... that just wasn’t efficient,” Milano Metals Co-Owner Mike Federici said. “With this, one guy can make a pile of reclaimable material and a pile of just plain dirt that can be used or graded down.”

Sam Turnbull, the inventor of the Flip Screen, was on hand this week at Milano Metals to see his creation at work. Turnbull, from Australia, said he created the equipment after his work in demolition.

“I was demolishing a bridge in Sydney, working to screen things we needed,” Turnbull said. “The things we used to do that were massive units that cost $500,000 and were hard to run. That’s what started me on the journey.”

What Turnbull created is a bucket that is put on a crane. The bucket has screens and turns to sift out the large material such as glass, plastic, metal and wood. Turnbull said the benefits of the Flip Screen that he developed are portability, durability and ease of use, all with an eye to helping protect the environment.

“What’s left doesn’t have to be mined, fill up landfills or get thrown away,” Turnbull said. “All of it, once sorted, can be reused.”

Also on hand for the unveiling of the Flip Screen at Milano Metals was a film crew from CNN Headline News, which is working on a segment about the technology, which is new to the United States, but has been in use for about six years in Australia. Turnbull reported there are about 380 units being used at this time.

“This machine combines a lot of jobs and streamlines the process,” Federici said. “Also, all the dirt is bought at one time or another for the iron, and we were paying a landfill, plus freight, to get rid of it because we couldn’t sort everything out. Now, we are reducing the amount of material that goes into the landfill.”

Milano Metals Co-Owner Mary Burgan said not only is it exciting to see the equipment at work, but it has been exciting to meet Turnbull, the CNN crew and others from across the U.S. who have come to the Mt. Vernon business to see the Flip Screen in action.

“There are people here from a company in Pennsylvania to watch,” Burgan said. “This if the first marketing that is happening in the U.S. ... There’s nothing else out there like it. We’re so honored they choose our yard to use it and for others to come and see it in action.”

Burgan said the Flip Screen will also be made available to other businesses for rental, such as construction, demolition, coal mines and railroads.

Milano Metals is a local family-owned business, operated by Gino Federici, Mary Burgan, Mia Barker and Mike Federici.

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