Do you ever wonder what happens to all that paper and plastic you put into the blue recycling bin after it gets picked up? Well, we did, and a quick call to Rick Bernas at Republic Services put us on the trail to all the answers. Republic is the company that runs the big blue trucks down the alleys of Rockwall, picking up all the trash and recyclables we generate by the hundreds of tons each day, whisking it away, out of sight, out of mind. As Manager of Municipal Sales for the company, Rick is the human face of this process, and the guy with the answers we were looking for.
Most of us have noticed there are separate trucks for trash and recycling. The trash goes directly to the landfill (more on that in another story.) The blue bin contents are handled much differently. When full, these trucks head to a sorting facility in Plano. And that is where this story begins.
The tipping floor
The Recycling Process
Upon arrival at the Plano Recycling Center, the trucks back into a huge bay and disgorge their contents onto the “tipping floor,” resulting in a huge pile of what at first looks like, well, junk. This material gets loaded by heavy equipment on to a conveyor belt, where sorting specialists manually pick out items like yard waste, dirty packaging, furniture and clothing that can’t be recycled. Recyclable glass items are picked out and routed to a crusher. If all goes smoothly, up to 35 tons of material can be processed every hour, or up to 350 tons a day. This is called the presort.
Paper sorting line. Non recyclable material is fed into an overhead vacuum and routed to trash.
After the presort line, cardboard, paper, plastic and metal are diverted to different lines for further processing. Contaminated material is pulled off the line, and the remainder is sifted and optically sorted by size and weight. Powerful magnets separate ferrous metals such as tin cans from plastic, and air currents “float” aluminum cans into a separate line. Although most of the sorting is computerized, manual intervention is still required along the way to catch any contamination that may have made it through.
Aluminum cans on the way to be crushed and baled.
At the end of each line, paper, cardboard and plastic are sent to machines that press the material into bales. A typical bale weighs about 2,500 pounds, and is ready to be shipped to manufacturers which can process the contents into products that can be re-used. A lot of recycled plastic gets made into carpets and even clothing. A recycled aluminum can may enter the market again as a new can within 60 days of being thrown into the bin.
End of the line. Baled material ready to be sent to processing plants.
Wish-Cycling
This is all pretty feelgood stuff, but there are some hard realities that come with the package. As we begin to get complacent about what we can recycle, we can succumb to the syndrome known as “wish-cycling.” This is defined as “the practice of tossing questionable items in the recycling bin, hoping they can somehow be recycled.” We figure we’ll just throw something we’re not sure about into the bin and let the recycling center figure it out. As it turns out, over 30% of what comes into the recycling center has to be pulled out and ends up in the landfill anyway. This not only wastes time and money, but can actually create more waste. We can help by becoming familiar with these guidelines for recycling.
Contamination
Food or grease contamination can cause an entire truckload to be ruined and diverted to a landfill. Pizza boxes are one of the biggest offenders. Any paper or cardboard that has been in contact with food cannot be recycled. Glass and plastic containers should be rinsed and dry before going into the bin. No light bulbs or broken glass can be recycled.
Things to Know
Never bag or bundle items. Bundled recyclables can’t be sorted at the facility, so all of it ends up in a landfill.
No bagging!
Plastic grocery bags should not go into the bin. They can get caught in the sorting equipment causing delays or damage. Most grocery stores have boxes near the entrance to collect these for recycling.
Batteries are a big no-no. They have been known to explode or catch fire during their trip down the line. Rechargeable batteries can be recycled at collection boxes at Home Depot. Alkalines and other single-use batteries cannot currently be cost effectively recycled, and unfortunately must be thrown away.
Be Responsible
Economics plays a large part in the success or failure of recycling programs. Raw baled material is subject to commodity pricing, which is sensitive to market fluctuation. Running a sophisticated recycling line is expensive, and if commodity rates are low, the difference has to be made up by ratepayers. Another reason for us to recycle responsibly.
