I Want to Recycle and Produce Whatever is Achievable From Domestic Garbage/Waste

The first thing to do is to set-up a sorting facility. The one closest to here sorts the following into streams:

• Paper
• Cardboard
• Rags
• Wood
• Plastic scrap
• "Light iron" scrap
• "Heavy iron" scrap
• Domestic electrical equipment scrap
• Copper scrap (from cables)
• Lead-acid batteries
• Other batteries
• Green garden waste
• Hardcore
• Used cooking oil
• Used motor oil
• Green glass
• Brown glass
• Clear glass

Thankyou PWSlack. Besides human labor,any machinery/equipment that can be recommended for sorting out the items that you listed? After the sorted piles /sections - what machinery can be used to either recycle or produce an applicable product? Brgds, Kamy

Crane-based electromagnets can separate out the ferrous metals, as any scrap merchant will attest!

Most recycling facilities, and certainly the one above, rely on those delivering the recyclables to sort appropriately. So there is very little machinery needed beyond ways of getting demountable containers on and off road vehicles for onward processing and security systems to stop theft, particularly of heavy metals, and fly-tipping by those that cannot be arsed to call at the facility when it is open.

Fly-tipping?

Fly-tipping is where someone huzzes a load of rubbish out of a vehicle in an inappropriate place and buggers off quick, instead of taking it to an appropriate place for recycling or proper disposal. It's an order of magnitude higher than littering drinks cans, sweet wrappers or cigarette packets, which are also a nuisance.

In the UK, stiff penalties are due when the miscreant is caught, and many of them are. However, householders have been prosecuted for fly-tipping when leaving rubbish for collection outside the boundary of their property on days other than those when the local authority's domestic refuse collection service comes past. It's completely bonkers, then, that's why so many illegal immigrants want to live here.

Thanks for the explanation.

Much more colorful than just "illegal dumping".

I'll pass this along to my friends in Municipal Solid Waste. (Trash Dept.)

In BC and northern Canada generally many land fill sites have 'recycling" sheds or areas. This is where people dump stuff that is still functional but no longer desirable by the original owner. Some places simply lets you go and help yourselves, others have staff on hand and charge a nominal fee for whatever you take away. These recycling sheds that are staffed and heated also have the 'junk" sorted and put on shelving. To date we have picked up a complete wardrobe of designer label clothing boots shoes Some still with original price tags and labels attached. and at the moment I am running several computers salvaged from the recycling shed. I have a couple of 17" Vu-Sonic monitors and a couple of extras in case the main ones burn out. Last fall I picked up an industrial timer system. Never been installed or wired in. when I got it home I looked it up and found it was still current model selling in the states at $1500.00 It must have come from a saw mill bag house filtering system.

I picked up a few microwave ovens for cannibalizing the timer control boards. A friend picked up a 22" TV -works like a charm. just didn't have the HDTV features.

My buddy in Dawson city got enough clean insulation batts to insulate the new house he built.

The list is endless. The swap shed that resells dropped off materieal pays the salaries of their staff plus the building heating bill from their proceeds.

Another land fill sorts garden debris for composting and composted soil sells for $15 per yard to week-end gardeners.

The places with a magnetic crane generally do well selling scrap steel, iron and hand sorted copper brass and aluminum. A friend and I sold a pick up load for $150 last month so I guess the land fill sites gets same price.

There is one electronics scrap yard that recovers semi precious metals from crushed and chipped circuit boards. Gold plated contacts etc.

Lots of opportunity to make a land fill site pay its own way.

Recycling facilities are now mowing towards a machinery / technology lead approach. You can now get machines to do the sorting for you. However these are expensive!

Can somebody recommend methods/technology/equipment to be used to recycle the collected items

It really depends on what you are collecting and how you are collecting it.

When you have completed sorting you can produce product from everything else. Including sludge with www.envirock.net

I like the idea of vermiculture beds under every sink.

Try looking at Recycling Today magazine. It will probably answer a lot of your questions.

Sir,

It seems that you have problem of domestic waste treatment.

In India We call it "Gobar Gas " plant.

take one plastic tank of say 1 mtr dia in plastic. Like roto molded water tank and cut at bottom and insert it it another tank of little larger diameter 1050mm

At top use one small flexible pipe for collecting gas and transporting it.(12mm)

Insert 50 mm dia pipe for feeding the waste.up to bottom of tank.

provide 150 mm below the top of outer tank 50 mm dia drill with pipe for overflow of slurry.

This makes the equipment ready to generate CH4

mix cow dung and water to make slurry to fill about 50mm at the bottom.Add to it all house hold waste food. or half kg of corn floor. let the bacterias work for about three days. The result: the inner tank will be raised by the pressure of generated gas.

Open the valve at the end of the gas tube and allow some gas to go out as it will contain some oxygen ,Nitrogen .

further more will be a mixture of 70% CH4 ; 20 % CO2 ; H2 , H2S

You can separate CO2

You can use it to run a diesel engine/ cooking stove

Do not use acidic food stuff . Use anything which is rich in sugar It will give better results

the temperature of slurry if maintained at 40 deg C the gas generation is most efficient.

Please crush the things in domestic mixer for pulverising.

visit www.arti.org

kiran