The recycling process in Toowoomba

The recycling process involves the following steps:

1. Recyclables are dropped from the recycling truck into a hopper at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF), 145 North Street Toowoomba.

2. The hopper's moving floor transfers the recyclables onto a conveyor belt leading into the MRF.

3. The recyclables then pass through two trommels (rotating barrels with holes in them). Smaller items – bottles, cans and plastic containers – fall out of the holes in the first trommel onto a conveyor belt. Larger items – paper and cardboard – travel through the first trommel and drop out of the holes in the second onto another conveyor belt.

4. The paper and cardboard is then sorted by hand to remove any non-paper items. Any recyclables are returned for further sorting. The paper and cardboard is then directed through a smaller trommel to remove any small contaminants before being baled.

5. Items that have fallen out of the first trommel are directed to a bouncing conveyor which separates any paper or cardboard – which is sent to the paper line.

6. The containers now pass through a small trommel which removes any glass fines (the fines are being used at the Ti – Tree Bioreactor landfill for road base and day cover).

7. The containers now pass under a magnet that removes any steel cans. The cans are directed to a baler to be crushed for transport to reprocessors.

8. The containers now pass through an air classifier that uses compressed air to separate light items (plastic bottles and containers and aluminium cans) from glass bottles and containers.

9. The glass containers pass through the air classifier and are sorted by hand into two categories – clear and coloured.

10. The light items pass under an eddy current that removes the aluminium cans. These are directed to a baler to be crushed for transport to reprocessors.

11. Plastic containers that pass through the eddy current are then sorted by hand. These are directed to a baler to be crushed for transport to reprocessors.