Lasers And Air Jets: New Technology Helps Separate Recyclable Plastics
BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) -- More Coloradans than ever are recycling, but when items aren't sorted correctly, it makes it difficult or even impossible for them to be recycled.
"Some plastics are more recyclable more valuable than others," says Kalin Stovall the Director of Operations for the Boulder County Recycling Center.
When your recycling is taken to a center, that's just the beginning of its journey. The first stop is sorting.
Usually, it takes a lot of time and manpower, but the Boulder County Recycling Center operated by Eco-Cycle Colorado is using specialized sensors to remove the guess-work. Two optical sorting units separate plastics on the fly.
"The optical sorters all have a camera box," Stovall explains. "The camera box basically reads which resin is present and then, depending on how it's programmed, it will select a resin and an air jet will kick that piece of plastic up over a fence -- separating it from the other material that's there."
The goal is to get more types of plastics through the center quicker and more efficiently so that Boulder County residents can recycle more and eventually lessen their impact on mother nature.
"The idea is to help the citizens of Boulder County, the taxpayers who funded this facility, achieve the zero waste goal," says Stovall.
Eco-Cycle and Boulder County say that recycling is just part of the equation. They want people to avoid using single use plastics as much as possible and when they do buy products with plastic in them make sure it's the type of plastic that can be recycled.