Scotia Recycling is providing an inside look at its operations.
In recognition of Circular Economy Month, members of the media toured the company’s facility, which processes residential recycling for the Metro region.
The company uses a “two-bag system”, where paper and cardboard are sorted into one stream, and containers including plastic, tin, and aluminum are deposited into another.
Those bags are then put on a line pertaining to their stream, where operators ensure they are ripped open and emptied.
From there, the recycling flows down the line to stations where employees are dedicated to sorting it into the different types of materials and dropped into a corresponding bunker.
For example, on the container line, one employee would sort all the high-density polyethylene plastics, like detergent bottles, while another would take a different type of plastic.
The items are sorted into different materials and dropped in a corresponding bunker.@VOCMNEWS pic.twitter.com/BCp9k3McgX
— Noah Sheppard (@SheppardNoah14) October 6, 2022
Two pieces of equipment are automated. One uses a magnet to pick up metal objects, and the other is called an Eddy Current, which uses an electromagnetic field to attract aluminum.
An Eddy Current uses an electromagnetic field to sort aluminum automatically. You can see the aluminum “jump” as it comes off the belt.@VOCMNEWS pic.twitter.com/4gmGyWyyiI
— Noah Sheppard (@SheppardNoah14) October 6, 2022
The materials are then compressed into a cube using a bailer, where the materials are loaded onto shipping containers for transport to the corresponding mill to be melted down to use again.
Scotia Recycling President Norm Mensour says they export about 1,000 shipping containers a year, with most going to Ontario and Quebec.
