Systems and methods for separating materials for single stream recycling

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing a quantity of cullet having at least two colors of glass from an input stream of recyclable material and non-recyclable material. In an embodiment, the system includes a sortation station, a screening apparatus, an air classifier, and a crushing apparatus to provide as output substantially pure cullet having at least two colors.

1 - 51 . (canceled) 
     
     
         52 . A system for separating materials for single stream recycling, the system comprising:
 a first screen adapted to separate out a first material from an input stream of mixed materials;   a second screen adapted to separate out a second material, different than the first material, from the input stream;   a sorter adapted to separate out a third material, different than the first and second materials, from the input stream;   a magnetic separation mechanism adapted to magnetically separate out a fourth material, different than the first, second, and third materials, from the input stream; and   a crushing mechanism adapted to crush a fifth material, different than the first, second, third, and fourth materials, into smaller pieces,   wherein at least a portion of each of the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth materials is recyclable.   
     
     
         53 . The system of  claim 52 , wherein at least one of the first screen and the second screen comprises a disc screen. 
     
     
         54 . The system of  claim 52 , wherein the first material comprises corrugated fiber, the second material comprises newspaper, and the third material comprises at least one of plastic and aluminum. 
     
     
         55 . The system of  claim 52 , wherein the sorter comprises an optical sorter adapted to separate out plastic from the input stream. 
     
     
         56 . The system of  claim 52 , wherein the magnetic separation mechanism is adapted to receive at least a portion of the input stream remaining after processing by the sorter. 
     
     
         57 . The system of  claim 52 , wherein the fourth material comprises a ferrous material. 
     
     
         58 . The system of  claim 52 , wherein the crushing mechanism is adapted to receive at least a portion of the input stream remaining after processing by the first screen and the second screen. 
     
     
         59 . The system of  claim 52  further comprising an eddy current separator adapted to remove a sixth material, different than the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth materials, from the input stream. 
     
     
         60 . The system of  claim 52  further comprising an air classifier adapted to apply an air stream to at least a portion of the input stream to separate at least one of paper, plastic and aluminum from the fifth material, wherein the fifth material comprises glass. 
     
     
         61 . The system of  claim 52  further comprising a manual sorter for separating out bulk non-recyclable material from the input stream. 
     
     
         62 . A method for separating materials for single stream recycling, the method comprising the steps of:
 removing a first material from an input stream of mixed materials using a first screen;   removing a second material, different than the first material, from the input stream using a second screen;   removing a third material, different than the first and second materials, from the input stream using a sorter;   magnetically separating a fourth material, different than the first, second, and third materials, from the input stream; and   crushing a fifth material, different than the first, second, third, and fourth materials, into smaller pieces,   wherein at least a portion of each of the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth materials is recyclable.   
     
     
         63 . The method of  claim 62 , wherein the first material comprises corrugated fiber, the second material comprises newspaper, and the third material comprises at least one of plastic and aluminum. 
     
     
         64 . The method of  claim 62 , wherein at least one of the first screen and the second screen comprises a disc screen. 
     
     
         65 . The method of  claim 62 , wherein the step of removing the third material comprises removing plastic using an optical sorter. 
     
     
         66 . The method of  claim 62 , wherein the step of magnetically separating the fourth material occurs subsequent to the step of removing the third material. 
     
     
         67 . The method of  claim 62 , wherein the fourth material comprises a ferrous material. 
     
     
         68 . The method of  claim 62 , wherein the step of crushing the fifth material occurs subsequent to the steps of removing the first and second materials from the input stream, and comprises crushing the fifth material into pieces at least as small as a predetermined size. 
     
     
         69 . The method of  claim 68 , wherein the fifth material comprises mixed color glass cullet. 
     
     
         70 . The method of  claim 62  further comprising the step of removing a sixth material, different than the first, second, third, fourth and fifth materials, from the input stream using an eddy current separator. 
     
     
         71 . The method of  claim 62  further comprising the step of applying an air stream to at least a portion of the input stream to separate at least one of paper, plastic and aluminum from the fifth material, wherein the fifth material comprises glass. 
     
     
         72 . The method of  claim 62  further comprising the step of separating out bulk non-recyclable material from the input stream.