BrandView
This story is sponsored by Utah League of Cities and Towns. Learn more about Utah League of Cities and Towns.
We all enjoy the convenience of being able to discard unwanted items into the recycling bin and having them disappear from our homes or offices. But what happens from there? Utah’s cities and towns have contracted with companies to drive through our neighborhoods and collect them. Watch this video or read on to learn more.
Once the recyclables are delivered to a processing facility, the debris is weighed then strategically dumped into particular areas so crews can keep track of its origination point. Then the sorting process begins.
Debbie Lyons, with Salt Lake City’s sustainability department, explains, “It goes to what’s called a material recovery facility, where the material goes through a system of conveyor belts and sorting and everything is sorted into their individual commodities like the aluminum can, the plastic bottles, the newspaper.”
Larry Gibbons, of Rocky Mountain Recycling, points to big piles of paper products at his facility. “What you‘re seeing here is the fiber content of everything that’s picked up at a residential home. About 40 percent of what we recycle out of the average home is this…. your junk mail, magazines.”
Dozens of hands scour the materials to keep the recyclables and throw out the trash. From one conveyer belt to the next, the paper is separated from the plastic and the aluminum is pulled from the debris by high-powered magnets.
After it’s sorted, it’s all compacted. Bales of paper products will be sold to factories in and out of state or overseas where it will be sold and re-used.
Aluminum has the quickest turnaround, according to Gibbons. “It’s estimated that we’ll get that aluminum can back in our hand in as quick as 40 days.”
The recycled debris will be made into many things, according to Lyons. “A lot of the fleece clothing is made from recycled plastic bottles and other plastic items.” Gibbons adds, “Playground equipment is made from recyclables, parking stops, stepping stones, yesterday’s news is tomorrow's news again, that will get turned back into the paper.”
When we recycle, our cities save money, according to Gibbons. “The city saves, No. 1, by not paying to throw that away and they save. No. 2, by diverting it out of the landfill.”
Lyons explains why recycling works so well for Salt Lake City residents. “I think it’s [money] pretty well spent. If you consider that you get a weekly visit from three different trucks to collect your waste for a bargain price, recycling it and handling it in the best way.”