Recycling
Refining
Refining is the process of changing the composition of and removing impurities from a material.
For example, hematite is a compound containing iron and oxygen; hematite can be refined into pure iron.
The key to refining theory is to identify the different properties of the different substances that one wishes to separate.
For example, if a mixture contains two substances of greatly differing densities, then a rough refining strategy could be to melt the mixture and then "scrape" the upper part of the molten mixture. When the mixture is in liquid form, the substance with lower density should flow to the top. If the substances have different colours when in liquid form, the colour-change line could signal when the scraping should stop.
Plastic Recycling
Summary
Separate discarded materials into easily recyclable categories. Send full material containers to recycling facility.
Notes
- Discarded material collection efficiency, material separation efficiency, and transportation efficiency are the key factors.
- Paper, organic, glass, steel, aluminum, plastic, and trash are the residential material categories.
Organic matter can be used as animal feed and compost substance on-site.
- Steel, aluminum, and bronze are the industrial material categories.
Definitely separate different material types; separating different alloys is not so critical for certain cases (ex. different types of carbon steel no worries; but separating stainless steel from carbon steel is important)
Large metal drums are recommended for their durability
Container Types
- 5 Gallon Bucket
- 55 Gallon Barrel
Container Platforms
- Outdoor platform, 3' by 15'
Material Transportation Tech
- Wheelbarrow
- Truck