How Recycling Plants Sort Mixed Waste in Seconds

Most people think recycling begins when the truck collects the bin. In reality, that is when the difficult part starts. By the time the material reaches the plant, paper, plastic, glass, and metal have been crushed together, mixed with food, plastic bags, wires, clothing, and batteries, and pushed onto a conveyor that cannot stop. The plant has only seconds to work out what each object is, where it should go, and whether it is still worth recovering. Even then, being sorted does not mean being recycled. Chapters: 00:00 The Problem With Mixed Recycling 01:23 How Material Enters the Sorting Line 03:33 Separating Paper by Size and Shape 05:38 How Steel and Aluminum Are Removed 07:04 How Optical Sorters Identify Plastic 09:20 How Glass Is Separated 10:05 Final Sorting and Baling 10:56 Why Sorting Is Not the Same as Recycling 12:01 The Cost and Limits of Recycling #Recycling #WasteManagement #HowItWorks