How It Works: Inside The Machine That Separates Your Recyclables

Moving paper away from plastic so you don't have to The most annoying aspect of recycling--and one of the biggest hurdles to its widespread adoption--is having to separate paper, glass, and plastic before they hit the curb. New recycling machines are changing that. With single-stream recycling, recyclables go into one bin, which a truck delivers to a materials-recovery facility, such as Willimantic Waste Paper in Willimantic, Connecticut. There, a largely automated system of conveyor belts, scre...