Evidence: Recycling

campaign

Diana Carolina Pealoza Gonzalez

 Taking care of water is taking
care of our future
THREE TIPS OF WATER AND LIFE

Water means health Water means life Water means

money
 What is Commingled or Single Stream Recycling?

All recyclables (paper, plastic, glass, steel

and aluminium cans) are collected in a single
wheelie-bin, compacted and sorted later at a
Materials Recovery Facility (MRF).
Understanding Commingled / Single Stream
Recycling Systems
Commingled systems have two main parts, the collection phase and the
sorting phase.

1. Commingled Collection The commingled collection methodology uses the

same types of vehicles, bins and lifters that are used to collect rubbish, to
collect our recycling. Householders are encouraged to put all their recycling
into one large bin, a wheelie-bin. Bins are lifted into a truck using a one-
armed bandit. No sorting gets done during the collection phase.Recyclables
are compacted in the truck to maximise the volumes collected on each run
and to increase transport efficiencies Compacting during collection
increases the weight collected per load.This reduces the number of vehicles
needed to service a given number of households and the number of trips to
the MRF for off loading. Commingled collections have gained popularity as
they are thought to be safer for the collection staff. It is also assumed that
the net cost of recycling will be lower when the collection cost is lower.
2. Sorting Commingled RecyclingCommingled collections require
a mechanised Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for sorting out
the recyclables. A MRF is a mechanised sorting system for
separating recyclables; paper, cardboard, glass, plastics, cans
and tins.These MRF systems vary in size and scale but they all
have a series of conveyors with a range of equipment for
separating materials. These can include screens, eddy current
separators, and optical sorters.MRFs come with a high capital
cost and high ongoing operating and maintenance costs. They
use a lot of energy to run all the conveyors and complex
equipment.A lot of recyclable material needs to flow through the
system to cover the capital cost of investing in this hi tech
equipment, so usually a MRF serves a large population base
across a city, a district or a region.A MRF is thought to reduce the
net cost of recycling as less labour is used in the process.