SEDL / STP / STP592-EB / STP33891S

Materials Recovery Systems

Bernheisel, JF
Manager of Demonstration Programs, National Center for Resource Recovery, Inc., Washington, D.C.,

Pages: 7    Published: Jan 1975

Download this paper for $25 PDF (108K)          View License Agreement
Abstract

A system representing the state-of-the-art has been formulated to separate various materials contained in municipal solid waste. This materials recovery system uses equipment which is either in production or in pilot operation. The system utilizes the different physical properties of paper, glass, ferrous metals, aluminum, and other nonferrous metals to achieve mechanical separations. The first operation of the system is shredding which produces a relatively uniform particle size and liberates individual materials from composite structures. This is followed by a series of equipment which operate on size, density, magnetism, lift/drag, electrical conductance, and light reflectance to achieve separation. The materials so recovered can be utilized by industry as raw materials, thereby conserving natural resources.