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Boulder County Recycling Center, Boulder, Colorado presents:
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Single-Stream Recycling-Leading the Way to Zero Waste
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Okay, to the left of the plastic bottleÖmove the paperÖgo AROUND the cereal box and VOILA!
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Fresh air at last!
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I know, youíre wondering what a nice aluminum can is doing in a bin with all these other
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materials! Well, it just makes sense because each and
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every one of us can be made into new products again and againÖ
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I'm going to be an orange soda pop in my next life!...
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Weíre all in here together because the Boulder County Recycling Center allows you to RECYCLE
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all of us together! Itís called ìSingle-Stream Recyclingî and itís so simple, EVERYONE
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can take part in helping the planet!
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Single-Stream Recycling: Leading the Way to Zero Waste
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Welcome to the amazing Boulder County Recycling Center! This place is chock full of state-of-the-art
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equipment that takes in recyclable materials all mixed together from your homes, schools
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and businesses. The materials are then sorted, screened, shaken and baled so they can be
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resold and made into new products.
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So put on your hard hats and letís see how it all works!
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Paper Sorting System
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It all begins out here on the Tipping Floor where bottles, cans and paper are dropped
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off by the truckload.
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Powerful loaders then push all this stuff onto one conveyor belt leading to the main
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facility where the sorting process begins! SIZE is a big deal at the Boulder County Recycling
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Center and the first part of the sorting system separates the very BIG from the very SMALL.
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The First Presort
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First, the BIG things get pulled out at ìThe First Presortî, or what I like to call ìThe
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Big BAD Thing Removerî!
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These quick-handed people go through all this and pull out larger BAD things that are very
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damaging to the recycling system as well as those things that are NOT recyclable. The
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non-recyclable items are sent straight to the landfill, so PLEASE help up by only recycling
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the materials listed in your recycling guidelines.
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Corrugated Cardboard Screen
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After those BAD things are removed at the First Presort, the big pieces of CARDBOARD
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are separated out. The materials bounce and flip and rock and roll over the ìCorrugated
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Cardboard Screenî and at the top, the large pieces of cardboard drop off the end to the
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floor where they get nicely baled up and sold to companies who make new things out of old
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cardboard!
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As thatís happening, the smaller materials, like me, fall through the screen and onto
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a series of conveyor beltsÖthat take us BACK into the tipping hall!
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Hummpf. Whoooeee! This is better than a good workout at the gym!
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The Fines Screen
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So, weíve taken out the biggest materials, now itís the littlest pieces turn to be taken
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out at ìThe Fines Screenî. These ìfinesî are mostly tiny pieces of broken glass so
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at the Fines Screen, the broken glass gets removed from paperÖand thatís important!
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Itís also important that these sharp little pieces come out so they donít cut up the
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conveyor belts. All these little pieces are sent to the Container Sorting System, which
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Iíll show you LATER. But for now, weíll stick with the bigger materials on the Paper
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Sorting Line as they arrive atÖThe Second Presort!
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Second Presort
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The Second Presort is a lot like the First Presort. Here, more busy hands work to pull
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out MORE materials that either arenít recyclable at all or that canít be recycled at this
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facility, like these stringy things and plastic bags which are also sent straight to the landfill!
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Plastic bags are some of the worst contaminants at the recycling center so please, instead
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of bagging recyclables or sending your plastic bags here, take them to participating grocery
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stores OR the Eco-Cycle/ City of Boulder ìCenter for Hard to Recycle Materialsî, also known
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as CHARM.
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And hereís a hint! Make sure the bags are clean and dry when you drop them off or theyíll
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STILL end up in the landfill!
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Or better yet! Avoid using plastic bags all together by bringing your own reusable bag
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to the store!
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Back on the lineÖin addition to pulling out non-recyclable materials, these workers also
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sort out the remaining smaller pieces of cardboard and paperboard like cereal and shoe boxes,
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which are dropped down dark chutes, baled and sent to market to make new products! Take
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it away, good buddy!
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Double Deck Paper Screen
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After going through the Second Presort, the materials head to the ìScreensî, or more
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specifically, the fancy ìDouble-Deck Paper Screensî!
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Remember how the first part of the sorting process was to separate the very BIG from
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the very SMALL? Well, here at the Paper Screens, weíre separating the CONTAINERS from the
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PAPER. Hereís how it worksÖ
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The Double-Deck Paper Screens separate flat objects, like paper, from round, or 3-dimensional
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objects such as plastic bottles, steel cans, milk and juice cartons and aluminum cans,
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like me!
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The flat papers are what we call ëmountain climbersí. They literally climb up layer
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after layer of specially designed rubber disks all the way to the top deck.
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But (puff, puff) containers like me (puff, puff) canít climb the rubber disks. Weíre
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more like ëboulders in the middle of an avalancheí and we FAAALLLLL backwards onto another screen.
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Meanwhile, at the top deck, the clean paper takes a flying leap off the end and onto a
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conveyor belt leading to quality control stations where workers remove any remaining contamination.
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Paper making it past THESE folks heads to a bunker and waits patiently to be baled and
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sent to paper markets!
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Oh! And by the way, since this equipment is sorting flats from rounds, itís important
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that containers STAY round or 3D, rather than being flattened, or the equipment might confuse
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a container for a piece of paper and send us to the wrong place!
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Thatís why we ask you NOT to flatten plastics or cans like me! And please be sure to ball
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your aluminum foil rather than flattening it!
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But back at the Double-Deck Paper Screens where all of us containers fell back while
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the paper kept climbing. We didnít quite get ALL the paper and containers separated
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so we do the whole process over again on the bottom deck. Even after THAT, we still have
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some paper with us, so we need to climb one last mountainÖI mean, SCREENÖand this time,
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weíre talking about the ìBanana Screenî!
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Yeppp, this screen is a much steeper climb than the first two, but donít worry, because
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HERE, the paper has some HELP with the climbÖthe air system!
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The air system provides air that blows against the paper. That helps the paper stick to the
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star-disks so they can climb to new heights and up, up and away over the top!
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But of course, we containers are too heavy for the air stream, so we FALLL back down
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the screen.
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And once again, the paper making it over the banana screen heads down a conveyor belt to
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workers who remove contamination. ALL the cleaned paper then ends up at a giant bunker
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where itís gathered together, baled and loaded onto rail cars outside the building. Those
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bales are then off to market to be made into new paper products!
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Back inside the plant, my container friends and I have gone through three screens to remove
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the last of the paperÖexceptÖyouíll see there is SOME paper still here. SHREDDED PAPER!
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The shredded paper fell through the cracks between the rubber disks and is still here
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with the containers. This stuff wreaks havoc on the systems, especially once it gets wet
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and literally glues up the works! PLEASE!...
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Donít put your shredded paper in your recycling bin at home, at work or at school. InsteadÖ
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compost the shred in your curbside compost bin!!
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Container Sorting System
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Back on the line, now that the paper is separated out, itís time for all the containers to
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move through the Container Sorting System!
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Here at the Container Sorting System, the containers are reunited with the ëfinesí,
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those tiny glass pieces and other items we left waayyy back in the process.
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Once again, it all starts with a presort station where workers check for contamination. If
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we make the grade here, we continue on to the Cross-Belt Magnet!
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Cross-Belt Magnet
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The magnet removes all the steel cans from the stream and ZAP! ...discharges them into
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their own personal bunker.
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Air Classifier
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Next, the light and heavy materials are separated by the Air Classifier. The heavy stuff, the
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glass, jiggles down to the bottom. The light stuff, like plastic bottles, milk and juice
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cartons and the beautiful aluminum cans rise to the top. A jet of air blasts across the
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top and shoots the light materials over to our own conveyor beltÖwhee!
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The plastics are then hand sorted by material and grade and tossed, with respect of course,
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into the appropriate bunker. From there theyíll go to the baler and then be sold to make new
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bottles and even materials like counter tops, carpeting and clothing.
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Eddy Current Separator
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And finally, itís MY turn! The aluminum cans are sent to ìThe Eddy Current Separatorî!
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Ooh, I LOVE saying that!
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A big magnet inside creates a current that literally propels the aluminum outta there
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and into its own storage bin. Whew!
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Once all these light containers have been sorted and baled, theyíre ready for shipment
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by truck, by train and by ship to markets across the country and even around the world!
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Air Classifier
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And now, letís back up to the Air Classifier where the light materials were blown away.
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The heavy materials, the glass and all those ëfinesí stay on the conveyor belt. In order
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for glass to be resold to glass bottlers, everything that isnít glass needs to be removed.
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Materials like ceramic dishes and plates, stones, metal pieces and other debris COMPLETELY
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mess up the bottlersí melting process, so they MUST COME OUT! And where does this happen?
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Drum roll pleaseÖin the ìGlass Cleaning System!î
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Glass Cleaning System
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As weíve seen with the other sorting equipment at this facility, the glass system is STILL
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about size, so the large and small glass pieces are separated by some really fun equipment!
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First, they go through screens, a rolling drum and then onto a bucket elevator ride!
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Itís like a glass amusement parkÖI think Iím a little jealous. As the equipment shakes,
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breaks and rolls, the glass is trans- formed into pieces no bigger than 2 inches across.
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Manual Glass Sort Line
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Yahooo! After that ride comes another group of friendly hands to remove any plastic or
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other containers that slipped under the Air Classifier ride. But not to worry. These materials
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are hand-delivered back to the Container Sorting System where they belong!
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Organic Separator
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After all that fun, the glass goes through a water mister, just like at the water park!
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Here, a fine water mist wets the paper which sticks to a rotating drum and ta da! Glass
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is separated from paper!
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Fines Screen and Vacuum
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But wait! Thereís still more cleaning to do. The glass travels through another vibrating
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screen and under a vacuum. The vacuum sucks up any remaining small pieces of plastic and
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paper and sends it to whatís called ìthe Cycloneî where a centrifugal force pushes
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the paper and plastic out of the air stream and into the compactor for disposal.
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Yes, you may think the glass is having too much fun, but now itís time for some serious
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undercover work.
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KSP Unit
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It all takes place in a box called the KSP Unit where ceramicsÖ stonesÖ and porcelainÖ,
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and additional contaminants are removed. This special unit is equipped with two optical
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detection devices and itís the main reason the Boulder County Recycling Center produces
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clean glass like nobody else in the business!
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As the glass moves through the machine, special cameras watch. Light beams are shot at the
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glass and the camera can tell if the light goes through the glass. If it doesnít, a
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computer connected to the KSP knows the material is not glass and that it must be removed.
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The computer signals air jets to push the non-glass materials out and into a conveyor
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bound for the landfill. Ah ha! Gotcha!
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Whatís left is clean glass, free from paper, porcelain, stones, ceramics and other non-glass
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materials, that is conveyed into a storage bin and later transported to the bottle manufacturer
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to make glass bottles. This glass sorting system is effective, but it sure took a lot
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of energy to remove those materials that should not have been put in the recycling bin in
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the first place!
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Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! Compost!
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And thatís how it all happens! The Boulder County Recycling Center is doing its part
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to help Boulder County become a Zero Waste Community by 2025.
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But because weíre all in this together, remember to Reduce! Reuse! Recycle and Compost!
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Because when you do all that, youíre giving ME another chance! See you next time around!
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Credits
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A Boulder Channel 8 Production. Copyright 2009