How the sorting works

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The Material Resources Facility uses single stream
technology to automatically sort the paper, plastic, cans and glass
collected at curbside in San José.

1. As incoming material moves along a conveyer belt,
   workers pull out large items, cardboard and plastic bags and toss
   them into bins. Unusable trash is thrown away.
2. The recyclables move into a double-deck screening machine
   that separates newspapers, mixed paper and containers into separate
   streams. Material bounces over rows of square wheels spinning
   1,000 times per minute. Blasts of air dislodge cans and bottles
   from newspapers. Gaps between rollers allow smaller items to fall
   onto conveyer belts.
3. Workers again pull out any trash and discard it.
4. Next is the trommel-mag – a large, rotating
   tube with small holes in the sides and an electromagnet
   at one end. Small items such as bottle caps fall through holes.
   The electromagnet snags tin cans. Then it’s on to the air
   classifier, where a powerful fan blows lightweight aluminum
   and plastic onto one conveyer, and heavier glass falls onto another.
   Workers sort glass and plastics.
5. An electromagnetic device diverts aluminum
   cans into a storage bin.

Courtesy of San Jose Mercury News
Written by Frank Sweeney
Graphic by Reid Brown