Recycling A Virtual Tour Tin takes 200-500 years to break down but can be recycled in 60 days Glass takes 500,000 – 1 million years to break down but can be recycled in 60-90 days Plastic never breaks down but can be recycled in 60-90 days More money with single stream because consumers don’t really separate it correctly

This is the recycling plant in Birdsboro, PA

Single stream recycling is dumped at the plant Average of 4-6 tons per day and one day per week is 15 tons

Includes paper, cardboard, newspaper, plastic, aluminum, glass, tin and loose metal

There is a 5 man crew – 3 separating and 2 controlling – they separate this stuff by hand!! The laser does separate the aluminum though and a magnet separates out tin and metal

Everything else goes up this belt

The tumbler spins around to separate the small stuff

The glass goes down this black tube into a glass crusher