How is DRY waste processed?
When DRY waste is received at the Westmorland-Albert Solid Waste Corporation’s facility from the Kings region it is taken to the DRY plant tipping floor. It is then loaded onto a conveyor and sent through the pre-sort station where bulky items and non-transparent bags are removed from the waste stream before the remaining blue bags are passed through a mechanical bag opener. Large pieces of cardboard are also recovered at the presort station.
Once the bags have been opened, the waste passes through the first sorting station. Staff manually removes large objects, including cardboard, bulky items and reject materials. The cardboard is directed to a recycling bin, while bulky items and reject material are stored for delivery to the landfill cell. The waste moves onto a fine-screen to remove small debris, and is then transported to the second sorting station where cardboard, plastic film, plastic containers, glass, sneakers, coffee cups and cell phones are manually recovered.
After the second sorting station, the waste is sent through the manual separator. The material separator divides the waste into two distinct streams: a “flat” stream composed mostly of paper products, and a “round” stream that includes mostly containers and plastics. The “flats” are directed to the third sorting station where any plastics or other contaminants are removed. “Rounds” are directed to the fourth sorting station where milk cartons, mixed plastics, clear plastics, PET, and all redeemable containers, including nonferrous metals, are extracted. A magnetic separator then removes all ferrous materials from the remaining waste.
Reject material from sorting stations three and four are directed to trailers for disposal in the landfill cell.
