Mechanized separation of mixed solid waste and recovery of recyclable products using optical sorter
First Claim
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1. A method for recovering recyclable materials from mixed solid waste stream using optical sorters, comprising:
- providing a mixed waste stream comprising high value recyclable material including paper and rigid plastic, wherein the mixed waste stream includes at least 20% by weight of low value material selected from the group consisting of wet organics, green waste, food waste, grit, fines less than 1 inch, asphalt, concrete, textiles, wood, rubber, film plastic, PVC, foil, rock, used consumer products, low value glass, composite materials, and combinations of these;
fractionating the mixed waste stream by size by performing an upper size cut and a lower size cut to produce a sized waste stream, the sized waste stream having a size range where the ratio of an upper cut-off to a lower cut-off is less than 8;
fractionating the sized waste stream by density to produce an intermediate stream enriched in the paper and plastic;
sorting the intermediate stream using a plurality of optical sorters configured to produce a sorted paper material and/or a sorted plastic material.
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Abstract
The method and systems efficiently extract recyclable materials from a mixed solid waste stream. The methods and systems use sizing, density and dimensional separation to produce intermediate waste streams that are enriched in particular recyclable materials. The recyclable materials can then be efficiently sorted from the individual intermediate streams using mechanized sorting equipment.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for recovering recyclable materials from mixed solid waste stream using optical sorters, comprising:
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providing a mixed waste stream comprising high value recyclable material including paper and rigid plastic, wherein the mixed waste stream includes at least 20% by weight of low value material selected from the group consisting of wet organics, green waste, food waste, grit, fines less than 1 inch, asphalt, concrete, textiles, wood, rubber, film plastic, PVC, foil, rock, used consumer products, low value glass, composite materials, and combinations of these; fractionating the mixed waste stream by size by performing an upper size cut and a lower size cut to produce a sized waste stream, the sized waste stream having a size range where the ratio of an upper cut-off to a lower cut-off is less than 8; fractionating the sized waste stream by density to produce an intermediate stream enriched in the paper and plastic; sorting the intermediate stream using a plurality of optical sorters configured to produce a sorted paper material and/or a sorted plastic material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for recovering recyclable materials from mixed solid waste stream, comprising:
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providing a mixed waste stream comprising high value recyclable material including paper and rigid plastic, wherein the mixed waste stream includes at least 20% by weight of low value material selected from the group consisting of wet organics, green waste, food waste, grit, fines less than 1 inch, asphalt, concrete, textiles, wood, rubber, film plastic, PVC, foil, rock, used consumer products, low value glass, composite materials, and combinations of these, wherein the low value material includes at least film plastic; fractionating the mixed waste stream by size by performing an upper size cut and a lower size cut to produce a sized waste stream, the sized waste stream having a size range where the ratio of an upper cut-off to a lower cut-off is less than 8; fractionating the sized waste stream by density to produce an intermediate stream enriched in the paper and film plastic; separating the paper from the film plastic using a plurality of optical sorters. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification