Sorting out the pros and cons of recycling

“We're capturing an awful lot of [paper] now”

Amid the clatter and dust of huge machines connected by conveyor belts and catwalks, the newspapers, plastic bags, cardboard, cans and bottles come flying at workers who frantically pluck unwanted items from the recycling stream.

Screens and spinning, star-shaped black plastic devices separate newspaper from cans and bottles. The fast-rotating stars push the paper higher up an inclined screen; the heavier, smaller cans and bottles tumble down to a different level.

The plant uses other sorting devices, including magnets and ultraviolet optical scanners that trigger blasts of air to separate plastic bottles from the rest of the items. Glass is sorted by color and crushed; plastic is shredded into small chips. Read more