TIMES RECORD • January 4, 2022
Sorting machines need clearly identifiable kinds of products in order to sort them into their respective piles. Cardboard is heavy, and is pulled out first with a roller system. Air is also used to separate paper from the stream. We should not tear up paper for recycling. It’s also why shredded paper is a problem, and is better composted than recycled. Aluminum sheets, like the covers on yogurt containers, are recyclable, as are sheets of aluminum foil, but both can blow away with the paper scraps unless they are crumpled together a bit. Any kind of wire, rope, hoses, or other long, stringy items get wrapped around the moving parts of the sorting machines, which requires that the entire operation be halted for several hours. Wood of any kind cannot be sorted into a recyclable commodity and is never acceptable in the recycling stream, nor are items that contain a mix of materials like steel and plastic. ~ Harry Hopcroft, Brunswick Recycling and Sustainability Committee