How Does A Recycling Centre Work?

The Recycling Process

A regular day at Metro Waste recycling centre in Adelaide will look reasonably similar to the day that preceded it and the day following. Our team of waste management experts know what to expect on any particular day and will work tirelessly sorting, directing and operating seven days a week.

While the jobs our staff performs may vary depending on priority needs, the team at Metro Waste recycling centre is well-prepared to undertake any massive task that may present itself around the depot. People outside the waste management industry may find it interesting to hear about what happens at a recycling centre in Adelaide and what a day is like in the life of one of our employees.

The team at Metro Waste has developed a small blog to provide some insight into all that goes on inside an Adelaide recycling centre. So, continue reading to get a glimpse at how operations run over at Metro Waste.

The First Step in Recycling

The part that most people who’ve ever visited a recycling centre in Adelaide would be familiar with is the drop-off. A car will drive up onto our weigh-bridge and depending on what items are to be dumped or recycled a sorting process ensues, the customer will be reimbursed and then will drive out.

Whether it’s bottles and cans or scrap metal, this initial step in the recycling centre process is simple because most items are already sorted by categories manually. The materials are then transported to the relevant area for subsequent processing.

What About Unsorted Items?

All of the unsorted items we receive have to go onto a giant conveyor belt, which we call the pre-sort line. There will be workers on the other side stationed to grab non-recyclable trash such as wood or electronic waste but all of the recyclable waste will remain.

Plastic bags will get sucked up by large vacuums in this stage to separate them from the quality materials. All the cardboard is screened out next through a sorting machine.

Newspapers are pulled out next by a triple-deck screen, and then it goes through one last check to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks! An electromagnet will then separate all of the metal.

Now What?

Once all of the different materials have been correctly sorted, they are transported from the transfer station to their new recycling centre destination. From here, they might be squashed, melted or shredded before they eventually are recycled!

Recycling centres in Adelaide have to sort through an enormous amount of waste every day, and the team at Metro Waste get tasked with making sure that all the waste management protocols go to plan.

If you need a reliable recycling centre in Adelaide, then look no further than Metro Waste. Come and see us at our convenient location just 5 minutes from the Adelaide CBD!