Have you ever wondered what happens to your garbage after a trash removal service comes to pick it up? Or what does your local recycling company do with your waste? Your trash and recycling services are far more complex than you think.
Whether it’s a local trash removal company or a dumpster rental, the trash you’ve left outside ends up at the same location. The U.S. generates nearly 200 million tons of garbage each year, so you can imagine how large these facilities can be.
Within these facilities, your waste is shredded, separated, magnetized, and sorted. The recycled products will then be shipped out to eventually enter this process again.
After the trash collection process, the waste is shredded to make the material more manageable for the recycling process. Different waste such as glass, paper, plastic, and metal are then divided and sometimes sent to different facilities to streamline the process. The waste then goes through a magnified conveyor belt to strip any materials that can be recycled. Finally, the waste is sorted through by machine and hand to make sure materials are sorted correctly. In the end, the waste is shipped in blocks to processors and manufacturers to be used again.
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