Recycled materials picked up on the sidelines of Harrisburg and many other cities end up at PennWaste in York County, a relatively new facility that processes 14,000 tons of recyclables per month. Recycling director Tim Horkay said the process is largely automated, with a 97 percent accuracy in separating different types of recycled material.
Most paper, plastic, aluminum and milk bags can be recycled by residents without too much trouble. Containers should be rinsed, but not cleaned. A small amount of food waste is acceptable, but greasy pizza boxes or large amounts of food waste stuck to things are not allowed.
While this process is now largely automated, the PennWaste facility still has 30 people per shift sorting the items you leave in the trash cans. This means that a real person must touch objects. With that in mind, here are some tips on what not to throw in the trash.
These short needles are most likely from diabetics. But PennWaste employees also dealt with long needles.
Medical waste is not included in the recycling program due to the possible presence of infectious agents transmitted through blood. However, officials said 600 pounds of needles ended up in PennWaste last year, and the number appears to be steadily rising. When needles are found on conveyor belts, such as in plastic cans, employees have to stop the line to get them out. This results in a loss of 50 hours of machine time per year. Some employees were injured by loose needles even when wearing impermeable gloves.
Wood and styrofoam are not among the materials commonly recycled on the roadside. Nonconforming items discarded with recyclables must be removed by staff and eventually discarded.
While plastic containers are great for recycling, containers that previously contained oil or other flammable liquids have not been popular at recycling centers. This is because oil and flammable liquids pose particular challenges in recycling, including creating flash points and changing the chemistry of plastics. Such containers should be disposed of in the trash or reused at home to prevent exposure to residual oil.
There are places where you can recycle clothes like Goodwill or The Salvation Army, but roadside trash cans are not the best option. Clothing can clog machines at recycling facilities, so employees need to be vigilant when trying to get the wrong clothes out.
These boxes are not recyclable at PennWaste. But instead of throwing them in the bin, you might consider donating them to a school, library, or thrift store where extra boxes may be needed to replace broken or lost ones.
This purple doily is absolutely disgusting. But some PennWaste employees had to take it off the production line because it didn't contain reusable fibers in the grape jelly coating. PennWaste does not accept used paper towels or paper towels.
Toys such as this horse and other children's products made of hard industrial plastics are not recyclable. The horse was taken off the assembly line in Pennwaist last week.
Drink glasses are made from lead glass, which cannot be recycled on the side of the road. Wine and soda glass bottles can be recycled (except in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, and other cities that have stopped collecting glass). PennWaste still accepts glass from customers because the machine can separate even small pieces of glass from other items.
Plastic shopping bags and trash bags are not welcome in sidewalk trash cans as they will be wrapped in the recycling facility's vehicles. The sorter needs to be manually cleaned twice a day because bags, clothes and other items get stuck. This hinders the operation of the sorter, as it is designed to allow smaller, heavier items to fall off the boom. To clean the car, a staff member attached a rope to the red strip at the top of the photo and cut out the offending bags and items by hand. Most grocery and large stores can recycle plastic shopping bags.
Diapers can often be found at PennWaste, although they are non-recyclable (clean or dirty). Harrisburg officials said some people threw diapers into open recycling bins instead of properly disposing of them as a game.
PennWaste cannot recycle these cords. When they ended up at the processing plant, employees tried to fish them out of the assembly line. Instead, people who want to throw away their old cords, wires, cables, and recyclable batteries can leave them at the front doors of Best Buy stores.
The talc-filled bottle arrived at PennWaste's recycling facility last week but had to be removed from the production line. The plastic contents of this container can be recycled, but the container must be empty. The conveyor belt was moving items too fast for employees to unload items as they passed.
Here's what happens when someone throws a can of shaving cream into the trash and it still has shaving cream in it: the packaging process ends up squeezing out what's left, creating a mess. Be sure to empty all containers before recycling.
Plastic hangers can be made from different types of plastic, so they are not recyclable. Do not attempt to recycle plastic hangers or large items made from hard industrial plastics. PennWaste employees had to dispose of large items such as swings for "recycling". After all, they take these bulky items to the landfill early in the process.
Plastic containers should be rinsed of food and debris before throwing them in the trash. This industrial-sized plastic container is clearly not like that. Food waste can also ruin other recyclable materials such as pizza boxes. Experts recommend scraping excess butter or cheese off a pizza box before putting the cardboard in the trash.
Plastic bottle caps can be recycled, but it's best not to do so while they're still attached to the bottle. When the cap is left in place, the plastic doesn't always shrink during packaging, as this air-filled 7-Up bottle demonstrates. According to Tim Horkey of PennWaste, water bottles are the hardest material to squeeze (with caps).
Air bubble wrap is not recyclable and actually sticks to the car like plastic shopping bags, so don't throw it in the trash can. Another item that cannot be recycled: aluminum foil. Aluminum cans, yes. Aluminum foil, no.
At the end of the day, after the balers, this is how recyclables leave PennWaste. Recycling director Tim Horkey said the bags have been sold to customers around the world. Materials are delivered in approximately 1 week for domestic customers and approximately 45 days for overseas customers in Asia.
PennWaste opened a new 96,000-square-foot recycling plant two years ago in February, with state-of-the-art equipment that automates much of the process to improve efficiency and reduce pollution. A new baler was installed earlier this month. A new facility equipped with an optical sorter could more than double the tonnage of recyclables processed per month.
Notebook and computer paper is recycled into facial tissues, toilet paper and new notebook paper. Steel and tin cans are reused to make rebar, bicycle parts and appliances, while recycled aluminum cans are used to create new aluminum cans. Mixed paper and junk mail can be recycled into shingles and paper towel rolls.
Use and/or registration on any part of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 04/04/2023), Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and your privacy rights and options (updated 01/07/2023).
© 2023 Avans Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (about us). The materials on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.
Post time: Aug-15-2023