The concept of recycling is as old as man. After a successful hunt and a hearty meal, your cave-dwelling ancestors found additional uses for the animals they killed. Rather than piling everything they couldn’t eat into a heap, they crafted the bones into tools and weapons, fashioned the hides into shelter and huddled beneath the fur for warmth. With today’s recycling machinery and a dose of creativity, your own household waste can be similarly transformed and repurposed.

Separation and Preparation

Once recyclables leave your curb, they must be sorted. Because most modern products consist of various components, specialized equipment is required to separate what can be recycled from true waste. Sorting machinery has been developed for almost every type of recyclable waste, from consumer products to construction materials and even e-waste.

Although the configuration of equipment can vary, most sorting devices incorporate one of three types of separators. Using vibrating screens is common, as the shaking motion serves to sift and separate different-sized materials. These screens can be integrated into a lengthy conveyor system depending on what and how much is being sorted. Some machines use air classifiers in which drag forces specific materials upward, allowing them to be sorted vertically. Cylindrical drums called trommel screens might also be utilized; they work by spiraling waste down a rotating drum.  This rotation forces smaller particles through screens while leaving larger pieces behind.

Sorted materials are prepared for reuse by processing them at the site of separation or by packaging them for resale. Some items, such as paper goods, plastics and aluminum cans, are baked for easy shipping, while glass is crushed into transportable pebbles called cullet. Shredded clothing and other paper items are often compressed and bundled. In any case, separated recyclables are almost always compacted in some way to reduce the cost of transporting them.

Transformation

After separation and preparation, broken-down recyclables must be converted into materials that can be used in new products. Most manufacturers purchase recycled materials from separation facilities, sourcing them in the same way they might obtain raw materials from mining or agricultural companies. Some may choose a more full-cycle approach by purchasing sorted recyclables and breaking them down themselves.

Regardless of how the materials are acquired, they must undergo a transformation in order to be usable in a new form. Giving glass a second life is a relatively simple process; furnaces heat the glass until it has melted and is ready for reuse. Grinders crush plastics, chippers break down wood and pounders pulverize concrete and other solid materials. Tires might be melted down in furnaces or ripped apart in massive shredders. Almost everything can be transformed into the building blocks for something new, as specialized equipment exists to prepare practically any recyclable for repurposing.

Creation

Once recyclables have been separated and transformed into base materials they are ready to be crafted into a brand new product. While many of us can easily picture old glass bottles being recycled into new ones, there are some surprisingly creative uses for repurposed materials. Take a close look at your local park; the soft artificial turf beneath playground equipment may come from recycled tires. Old newspapers can become egg cartons and even kitty litter. The tin cans you toss out might return to you someday as part of a bicycle or home appliance. Beverage bottles can be repurposed as carpet, backpacks and even sleeping bags, and the next Frisbee you toss might be made of recycled detergent bottles. The creation of new products from recycled materials is limited only by imagination.

With modern machinery and ingenuity, mankind has moved far past the bounds of simply making the most of what is at hand. Recycling is now driven by technology and equipment that make it possible to transform the mundane into the sublime. So the next time you wonder if hauling that recycling bin to the curb is worth the effort, imagine what your waste might someday become.