Recycling Plant Tour

Last week Jennifer and I went on a tour of the Plano recycling plant operated by Allied Waste. I guess there are multiple processes for sorting recycling, but this plant used a 'single line' process (I think that is what they called it). Our recycling is picked up in one bin. We don't sort it or anything. The truck that picks it up looks like a regular garbage truck (in Sugar Land the truck driver would sort the recycling into bins in the truck) and all the recycling is packed in together. When it comes in it is literally dumped on the floor and loaded into this HUGE hopper, where it is sifted up a conveyer belt into the sorters. There are several stages where cardboard, glass paper and plastic are all sifted. It was pretty crude and TONS of trash was in the recycling. Diapers, bicycles, food, shoes. It goes through the process and most is either sorted or manually picked out by workers on the line. What isn't sorted get dumped at the end of the line. There were a lot of recyclables at the end. The tour guide said that is was all re-processed to remove any more recycling. I don't know. They then load all the garbage and take it to the land fill.

The plastics are sorted basically in colored and clear. Paper goes one way and cardboard is baled. Glass pretty much sits in the back until someone wants it. Different mills have contracts to pick up the sorted stuff to be recycled.

The tour guide said that their site was 'pretty good' but apparently New York and California are way ahead of the curve. It was also pretty clear that it was still all about the economics. The focus is to get the most processed with the least amount of manual labor. The glass is a loser. Nobody wants it. They had some processes in the past that would crush it and make floors, etc out of it, but it never took off and the equipment sits and rusts while the glass pile gets bigger. Someone figure out what to do with the glass!

So what should you recycle?

ALL paper. Unless it has a wax coating or food on it. This includes newspaper, white, colored, receipts, junk mail (the windows are ok), everything.
ALL Cardboard. This includes cereal box like cardboard packaging
All Glass. As long as the take it.
All Plastic. If it is plastic, we put it in the bin. Only NO Bags! The clog the sorters. You can sort those separately and take them to the grocery stores where they usually have a place to take it.

The tour guide said, "If you think it might be recycleable put it in the bin" They do so much sorting there that it at least has a chance if you send it. If it isn't recyclable it will still just go to the land fill.

It has been much easier than I thought to really increase our recycling and decrease our garbage. I am about to add a recycle bin and remove a trash can!

OK, well I have a lot to say on this subject. I'm enjoying the blogging on it.