What happens to our trash after we recycle it?
In my city we have a recycling center where you can drop off all your recycables mixed in. Technically it says "Plastic containers and Paper", but I throw in all kinds of things: paper, plasic packaging, cardboard, glass bottles, figuring that the should be able to separate it anyways.
I am curious, what happens with all these items when they are mixed in like this? How do they separate them? And do you think they toss away all the items other then "Plastic containers and paper"?
Dude if your recycling facility is specific about what they will accept it is NOT for NO reason it is because there is not always a facility available to send things. and yes you can bet your but that in fact they do put what they cannot get rid of in the garbage. AND the people whose job it is to sort these things by HAND probably really appreciate your commitment to recycling etiquette.
its sorted out – plastics get melted and reused (POSSIBLY via fractional distillation)…paper gets gathered, squashed and reused and so on.
A recycling facilityMany cities sort all of the trash they pick up into recyclable and nonrecyclable materials. Materials that can’t be recycled go to incinerators or landfills, but materials such as paper, plastic and aluminum can be recycled. These elements of the garbage are sorted at sorting facilities and then sent to recycling companies that melt, crush or otherwise break down the recyclables into material that can be reused. The recycled material is then sold to manufacturers—often at a lower cost than new materials—to be used again.
People sort through it all.