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The common misconception is that garbage collected in dumpsters is immediately taken to the nearest landfill after it has been collected.
This is not the case. Much like the great majority of other dumpster rental businesses, our company recycles as many of the materials we gather as is practically possible.
This is a wonderful practice because it is beneficial for the environment and enables us to get the most out of the materials we collect.
You are probably underestimating how simple the procedure is since you haven't heard of single-stream recycling, which is commonly available in the majority of the big markets.
So, once the trash is placed in dumpsters, what happens to it after it's been collected? What kind of recycling is it? What is it transformed into in the end? Continue reading to find out more.
In days gone by, dumpsters were normally collected once they were full, and the contents were subsequently transferred to the region's several landfills.
However, as the process of recycling grew more widely available, more cost-effective, and more widely accepted, trash businesses began recycling as many things as they could.
Recycling materials from dumpsters can be profitable and good for the environment, making it easier for businesses like ours to keep our costs in check.
Recycling dumpster contents also helps safeguard the environment.
Your local community may ask you to sort recyclable products into their respective bins. However, this will depend on where you reside.
It should come as no surprise that this is not a feasible method for recycling the contents of dumpsters, which are often a combination of different types of waste and materials.
Thankfully, single-stream recycling is now an option, and its introduction has brought about a sea change in the manner in which we recycle.
Recycling in a single stream is more efficient for those who participate in it and for the vehicles used to collect recyclable materials.
They will only have to make one journey to acquire everything rather than go in different directions for the various resources.
This results in reduced pollution and savings on fuel, so it's a win-win situation.
During the process of recycling using a single stream, the materials are gathered and transported to a Materials Recovery Facility, also known as an MRF.
The items are all piled together at the beginning and put on a conveyor belt.
A v-screen separator is located further down the line and is responsible for removing paper materials.
Heavier materials such as metal, glass, and plastic fall onto another belt beneath them. While this is going on, the paper is being packed up and delivered to a paper mill.
After that, enormous magnets remove ferrous metals such as iron, steel, and tin from the conveyor belt and place them in bins.
Materials made of non-ferrous metals, such as aluminum, go on alongside materials made of glass and plastic.
All of these materials go via an eddy current rotor, which generates intense energy fields around materials that are not magnetic and are used in the processing of the materials.
As a direct consequence, aluminum and other non-ferrous metals are transferred to a different container.
The glass and the plastic are then transported to an optical scanning system, which separates the plastic into further bins after it identifies it.
Now there is nothing but glass left, and it is poured into the last container.
Because of single-stream recycling, it is possible to efficiently separate recyclable materials from a dumpster's worth of waste thanks to this recycling method.
This stage is not the final one in the process.
The recyclable materials, once collected, need to go through a processing step before they can be repurposed into new materials and items.
What happens to them varies according to the topic that is being discussed here:
Paper and Cardboard - Paper mills get the majority of the resources used for paper and cardboard production. After going through a chemical washing procedure, the ink is removed from the paper fibers, and then a piece of equipment known as a slushier transforms the paper into a pulp. After that, a detergent will draw the ink away and carry it away. Contaminants are eliminated through the use of screens. After that, the pulp is bleached and then combined with wood chip pulp so that it is more durable. The excess moisture is drained away, leaving behind material that is quite solid and can be removed easily. After that, it is positioned inside rollers that are heated by steam. Newspaper is frequently used either as gift wrap or as an additional newspaper. The most common uses for cardboard are in the manufacture of paper bags and components for cardboard boxes.
Tin - Despite what a lot of people believe, cans made of tin contain relatively little of the metal itself. Steel constitutes the majority of their construction. Tin is delivered to a dealer or detinning facility after the collection and sorting process. The cans are cleaned by having a de-tinning solution poured through them. The tin and the steel are then recovered, cleaned, and separated using electrical and chemical procedures. After the tin is dissolved from the steel, the steel is sold to steel mills. Liquid with the tin is filtered to remove contaminants and treated to remove other metals. At long last, the tin is shaped, melted down, and poured into ingots before being finished.
Glass - Glass is recycled according to color, so once enough of one color of the glass is collected, it is sold to glass plants or dealers. The processing system breaks the glass into tiny pieces at the glass plant. Vacuums, screens, and magnets then pull away metal, plastic, caps, labels, and other debris. After that, the glass is combined with soda ash, silica sand, and limestone and heated in a furnace. After being turned into molten glass, it can be re-manufactured into new glass products.
Aluminum - Aluminum is most commonly sold to recyclers and scrap metal dealers. It may be processed domestically or abroad, where there is a huge market. The producer or smelter then shreds or grinds the aluminum into tiny chips. These chips are then melted and cast to become ingots. Those ingots are then sent to manufacturing plants, where they are rolled into sheets of aluminum. The aluminum may then be used to make car bodies and other products.
Plastic - There are many types of plastic. Some types contain resins that are not compatible with the recycling process. Plastics that can be recycled are typically baled, shredded, or chipped before being sent to a reprocessing plant. There, the resins are melted and made into new products. Most commonly, recycled plastic is used to make car parts, molded products, toys, and even carpet backing.
As you can see, the story of the materials thrown into dumpsters doesn’t end when they are hauled away.
Through a series of incredible technologies and processes, they are sorted, processed, and then made into new products.
In this way, dumpster companies like ours do their part to help the environment.
The next time you toss a recyclable material into a dumpster, you can rest easy in the knowledge that it will likely be turned into something useful someday.