Sorting and Recycling Facility - Follow the Process

Follow the recycling and sorting process at Homewood Disposal in the south suburbs of Chicago. Take the journey from curbside to finished sorted materials, ready to be reused. The video includes pop-up style information and recycling statistics.
Our "WeSort" recycling program takes plastic, aluminum, glass, paper, cartons, and cardboard from residential and commercial sources. Ours system is "single stream", which means all recyclables arrive at our facility mingled together. We sort so you don't have to.
View our updated video on this topic here • Recycling and Sorting ...

[@MeGoreng-p5h]

This post is very suitable for educating various groups who may need to show various people the real reality of waste disposal and how to sort it.

[@BriansArtforAnimals]

Hats off to those working at these centers. Thanks for helping keep the planet a little less full of garbage for both wildlife and us. It would be interesting to see the next step in how paper, plastic etc..gets re used. I have heard that sometimes even the recycled objects (even ones that end up in the right recycle cans) end up in the garbage if towns/cities don't really want to pay for it to get recycled. It is a shame though that stuff gets sent overseas, you would think we could use all those jobs here in the US.

[@maggiemargaret1412]

If you are young enough, find some grants and investors and start a company to do just that. I imagine in the beginning you'd have to figure out, who wants to buy them. Or maybe you start a second company that say, buys those materials from your first company and then manufactures recycled bags, for example, or other products. I am starting to see a lot more products made from biodegradable or recycled material these days. And JUST TODAY, (in May 2021), Exxon Shareholders voted at least 2 board members OUT b/c they were NOT concerned enough w how to move the company closer toward keeping "climate change' in mind when innovating and directing future ventures. That is a BIG DEAL and progress and also the future~! Other companies are and will now be paying attention (finally).

[@lishaveli870]

8 pound an hour nobody gives fck mate

[@FlwrCats76]

Yes! I watched a documentary about how the U.S. sends our trash to other countries in Asia and basically dumps it. Would be interesting (and sad) to watch that whole process. How do they decide what trash gets dumped in other countries? Etc

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

That's just corporate activism bs.

[@imodium9822]

I have an interview later today to become a sorter at one of these plants in my area, wish me luck!.

[@moneymatters8457]

did u get it and is it good >

[@GeneralArmorus]

Looks like one of those jobs that makes you mad. I wonder how many breaks do you get

[@snap_drama346]

@@GeneralArmorus here in the uk it's mostly Europeans that work there and cause there hardship in there country they just suck it up and work and save there money to buy house back home and leave the job one day, there very few English that work there. Ppl quit cause of the long hours and its repetitive the job itself ain't the problem. In the winter time it's hard to work there its very cold and in the summer time it's humid the hot air has no wear to go and it smells more cause of the heat

[@sickslick8089]

Well it's been a year....did you get the job?

[@RememberTheSlapFilms]

No news...maybe they recylcled him

[@TalentedxVandal]

Great inside look. My father worked for the Dept of Sanitation. You be surprised what people throw away.

[@mahams8954]

elaborate please

[@tamarawalker172]

I just got hired to be a sorter. I like to recycle and wouldn't mind working for a recycling company

[@MrArjay123]

What's the pay like?

[@MrSwagster8]

@@donjohnson6759 hey can you describe in a bit of detail if this is a good job to start at? I see an opening where o live and I really need a job. Is it worth it?

[@PartTimeLaowai]

I bet the workers there would have some stories to tell about the weird and wacky stuff that ends up on those conveyor belts.

[@MilwaukeeF40C]

Silicon 'dos are not recyclable.

[@innazhurav9622]

I begin to sort the garbage firstly in the supermarket. I give a preference to the products without a package or in recyclable package. At home I don`t have the excess of products, or some things and I always sort the garbage very carefully till the last scrap of paper.

[@IceAge20017]

Tip: Loose scraps of paper aren't recycled because the machine that sorts them can't pick them up. Put them inside of a paper bag instead so the machine can get a grip on it.

[@maggiemargaret1412]

Well,, the weird thing is that, of course it is good to separate garbage from recyclables, but after that depending on where you live, and what sort of machines your recycling center has, it may not matter. They all get thrown in together and the machines and some workers do the work of separating "types" of recyclables. I did not know this until I started watching this and other videos on this subject. It's fascinating.

[@Jbabyss]

This is way easier than the way we sort at my plant I work at we have to pick the tin, plastic, and cardboard by hand in put them in different bins this seems like an easier way to do it

[@brockowings3855]

I wish more waste management companies would do this! I swear the majority of recycled stuff still ends up going into the landfill instead of the complies spending money on machines like these that can better process them.

[@KERRYSHIELDS-w8g]

Can I use your video as an educational tool to show kids in our local elementary school?

[@spacecookie5730]

Awesome video! :))))))))

[@Radionut]

Excellent video great voice of the narrator however I would like to hear the machines working. Thanks for the video we all need to do our part to

[@gabrielguerrero595]

I start a sorter position tomorrow for 16 an hour after watching this video idk how I feel lol but 16 a hour is good

[@AgnesAtoni]

How is the job so far?

[@Mikehawk323]

@@mikelawson6371 why chief?

[@jacoblape]

How did it go. Is the job really that shit?

[@izzym5773]

$16!?!? mine pays $10 😳😳😳

[@jacoblape]

@@izzym5773 what part of country you live? 16 was California when i applied. You gotta think they tax crap out of it so more like 11.

[@Agui007]

Had people lived like the indigenous people this wouldn't be needed. We are greedy and wasteful.

[@macpakinga1271]

I love 😊 recycle at home ❤

[@zgzg8423]

Love recycling sooo much😍😍

[@fabiandaroca]

Very cool video!

[@Martin87878787]

That wheelie bin took some abuse

[@CarlosChavez-cr3gd]

every body should have a mandatory list of recycle at home and have a recycle bin .. that way every body contribute and should be easy for those worker awesome ... I work on a university I do sort recycle on my area ( cafeteria ) when I pick all the trash ,... people mix everything plastic on trash and non recyclable on recycling bins ..

[@ILIK3HATERZ]

Already do! I smelt the glass an melt down aluminum to ingots then paper gets shredded an formed into block ( like Minecraft ) an companies that make those drink carriers pay for the material!

[@dabutchaistoxic]

How do you separate shredded plastic from shredded cardboard?

[@kromedome0101]

Obviously the sorters can't remove all non-recyclables. I assume it makes it's way back around, over and over?

[@IceAge20017]

No. They sort them once at the facility, but then they're shipped to another place to be repurposed. When they get to that process they double check all the new materials.

[@erikar622]

They’re hiring as sorter around my area. I thought about applying but would be scared of getting pricked by needles .

[@Godschoosen1]

😮 didn't think of that.

[@maggiemargaret1412]

Brilliant technology`! and heroic workers! Tell me someone, plastic bags are NOT recyclable ~ but ARE plastic wrappings? Plastic sheets? Things like that?

[@punknhead23]

Plastic bags not recyclable? 4:00 So do they send them where they will be recycled. To my understanding all stretchy plastic could be recycled into plastic decking and back into plastic bags again.

[@kruzrken]

There are no longer any "tin" cans. Magnets do not attract tin, only steel. (2) An eddy current is not a magnet.

[@Mydisposal]

Right you are. Many of our customers still refer to any metal container as a "tin" can. These days they are mostly steel. Right, an Eddy Current is not a magnet...our idea was to make this content for kids, calling the eddy current "a magnet" was about as close as we could get to explaining the complex eddy current to kids. We could have been more clear.

[@lauraelliott8862]

I thought plastic bags were recyclable. that's why it has the recycling label on it. and, some stores around where I live offer recycling for them.

[@310lakerfan424]

Laura Elliott some facilities don't recycle them. I use to work doing this back then and when I started we didn't recycle plastic bags, but by the time I quit the company had made changes to the facility in order to be able to recycle the bags.

[@JCCCSustainability]

Plastic bags usually go to a different type of facility that specializes in plastic bags. Grocery stores or big box stores often have a collection bin near the entrance for them.

[@saraurban7964]

Laura Elliott qq w

[@reklawauhsoj183]

Laura Elliott each state has its own rules for what's recycling and what's not to recycle.

[@mysterybuyer3738]

Moslty the bags have to go back to the stores for recycling. The regular recyclers are too lazy to deal with them. They could if they really wanted to but the bags are not worth much so they would rather not deal with them. They also complain they get wrapped around recycling equipment.

[@helenmary9416]

please help me...can i toss old photos in with newspapers etc?

[@Mydisposal]

yes you can. Glossy paper is recyclable.

[@youngnreel]

Got an interview monday imma work here a while because I have to support my fam but ion know if imma like it😂😂😂

[@Dreamseller112]

So it's been three months since your comment. How did you go with it all. I'm in the same situation as you. I start at a waste recycling facility in Australia next week. not sure if it's a job I could do for a long time

[@ImNothyuga]

So how did both of y’all like it? I’m here rn my first day

[@riddlegunnermanuel6503]

Thats how Agency employees get paid with recycable items they sale.. meanwhile company employees are upstairs in the ac office drinking cold water, and letting the agency workers do all the work

[@KnightMirkoYo]

Do you have any projects to promote household sorting of material?

[@dinosanchez8528]

Pretty cool

[@franciskucinski5635]

I have an interview burn

[@gomathib2310]

In India like Countries where such Expensive Trucks are not available the wastages are collected Manually from the houses.People can help them by keeping the wastages separated as they say. Better to put the wastages in Dustbin where they are available. Not to throw just in Roadside wastelands ad Drainages.The Govt has to keep a dustbin for each Street and collect the wastages from all areas through the JCPs and Trucks to keep Clean India.The Reliance Company owner can sell his Cars and the Tower he built as Museum can be sold out and the Fund can be distributed to "Clean India" Scheme.

[@ambroisevalet]

basically they do this sorting and then send it abroad where it's all mixed up again and burnt or spread around because no one can find a use in these low quality materials

[@madresults_952]

But nobody really recycles the plastic. It costs way too much

[@Soydrinker999]

i thought machines sorted it...

[@nightfighter7452]

WRONG

[@nurbanuyanar5479]

Machines can sort it, that is called Near Infrared Spectroscopy, but they choose the cheaper way for sure

[@franciskucinski5635]

How hot burn baby burn!

[@syedirfanhussainrizvi1100]

One question Why is it important to sort different waste materials?

[@TheOutlaw_JoseyWales]

So they can be re-used. For example, metal can always be melted down & formed into something new.

[@TheOutlaw_JoseyWales]

Believe it or not, I actually used to make a living off collecting old metal items & selling them to the scrap yard. You would be surprised how much money is in scrapping. I knew a few dudes that were pulling in 6 figures annually. One man's trash is another man's treasure...

[@timmccormack3930]

These single-stream facilities have a certain amount of loss, and I believe also produce lower-quality streams of recyclables -- there's some plastic mixed into the cardboard, or something like that. (People also throw all sorts of crap into single-stream.) Pre-sorting dramatically improves the quality. But it also reduces how much gets recycled in the first place. So there's your trade-off, and why some places use pre-sort and others use single-stream.

[@hughmann706]

"Our journey begins on pick up day" Proceeds to crush the shit out of the guy's trash can!

[@kennethxing5380]

The truck crushes that garbage can like its nothing holy crap

[@theyoutubeguy1]

Imagine if that truck was your mom, and that bin was your todger, OUCH!

[@huainuam5175]

I want to help the earth by recycling but the recycling truck never come to pick up ours

[@IceAge20017]

Go there instead. Or recycle at home.

[@IceAge20017]

Plastic bags with the #2 or #4 recycling symbols ARE recyclable. This video failed to point that out.

[@Mydisposal]

Right. Technically clean, dry plastic bags are recyclable. Just not accepted in most national curbside pick up programs. They can be brought back to local stores where they came from for recycling.

[@WillyJunior]

Good video but the music was incredibly annoying

[@guyva_unito_sree3]

non biodegradable packaging should be illegal becaus its immoral throwing away so much. recycling itself isnt so green either. they didnt show the whole processing involved in getting it all turned into new packaging. and we should be bringing our own reusable packaging at the grocery. saying we're running out of landfill room is false. all the garbage in the world can fit in a relatively tiny are of land. it can also be burned minus the metal and glass so there's that too.

[@ftos9005]

I have an interview on Monday 💀

[@rerelashay5686]

BAMBAM GOT FUEG I had mines today got the job💪🏾$14 an hour

[@IceAge20017]

Yay. I have mine on the 30th.

[@truckersmitty]

Yall gone hate this job😂😂

[@rerelashay5686]

NMB I only lasted a month they were very strict

[@rerelashay5686]

NMB it’s ok great money but it is hardwork my motto is “work the job, don’t let it work you”

[@dirtydragon9]

I hope those workers are paid a lot of money... they deserve it.

[@sierraraineymangum9883]

Why can't people sort it themselves?

[@Mydisposal]

Hi Sierra, It's called "Single Stream" recycling. Most densely populated areas in the United States place all recyclables in one cart or can and it's sorted out elsewhere. We do that sorting process.

[@user-gj5qd5cz1z]

So who else gets dizzy and lightheaded doing this job?

[@angeldust5824]

Fr?.

[@rui4762]

American and Chinese governments seems don't have a good and effective policy about waste sorting.

[@Ares14]

Well China is the worlds worst. America is not too bad, but than again they are far more advanced as China is still considered a developing nation.

[@mikedunker7354]

i need a job in wa state

[@eugenegutierrez5106]

What if those people doesn’t properly thrown them in proper bins. How do they handle those dirty diapers. Yuck!!!

[@ILIK3HATERZ]

How about: Don’t dump your plastic bottle in the ocean as a label on your trash cans & trucks 🤔

[@TheOutlaw_JoseyWales]

There is plenty of room in landfills. Recycling should be about not letting something potential useful go to waste, not 'saving the planet'. The planet will be fine either way.

[@theyoutubeguy1]

What? Did you get your Comedy degree from Monsters University?

[@TheOutlaw_JoseyWales]

@@theyoutubeguy1 common sense university*

[@Saturnia2014]

​@@TheOutlaw_JoseyWales In other words, you've haven't set foot in a classroom since you dropped out of high school.

[@TheOutlaw_JoseyWales]

@@Saturnia2014 Not since I graduated highschool- with a 3.75 gpa, I might add. There's hardly any nobility in classrooms anymore, my friend. Most of them have turned into indoctrination camps for woke and useless rhetoric.

[@truckersmitty]

Worst job i ever had broke out on my arm little bumps and shit you better iff at mcdonalds no benefits low pay slave work i worked at homewood disposal east hazel crest illinois 2 breaks on a 10-12 hour shift get this first break is a 30 min lunch bullshit job

[@krankkid7394]

I start work at a recycling plant in a couple days. Gotta say this shit looks terrible. I'm gonna hate this job.

[@Yuskee4]

I quit in just a week

[@krankkid7394]

@@Yuskee4 me too friend🤣🤣

[@3ofus135]

What's the worst thing about the job? I'm thinking about applying as a sorter in California. Starting pay is $19.53 hr and there's OT available. I've heard the employee turnover rate is very high, though.

[@krankkid7394]

@@3ofus135 worst job I had in my life. I was knee deep in garbage water pulling bags of trash weighing a good 800-1000 pounds. No machine like a forklift to help. The garbage water aka shit water got all over me every shift so I always woke the entire house up with my smell alone when I got off work. I was getting 11$ an hour for that

[@3ofus135]

@@krankkid7394 That sounds bad. Were you working in the landfill part? They said with OT, I can make $50k or more per year. Provided I stay a year. LOL

[@youngjay9550]

wtf

[@gy2gy246]

Recycling is the making of new products from used ones. There's no recycling going on here.

[@PartTimeLaowai]

I saw reprocessing going on in that video 😉 recycle (verb) reprocess, reuse, use, utilize, utilise, apply, employ

[@gy2gy246]

@@PartTimeLaowai You saw sorting and baling, not recycling. We never know if that material ill be recycled.

[@gy2gy246]

@@PartTimeLaowai There is no manufacturing of new products here, only sorting and baling. Most bales of plastic just end up in landfills. Where do you see them making new products?

[@mahams8954]

i agree! i hve been wanting to see how things r recycled.

[@dongalindo5175]

Looks like a trashy job lol

[@stardaddyo9]

Last week I accidentally throw a bag of dogshit in the recycling bin. I feel just terrible about it.

[@ashley101verve]

I worked at Homewood Disposal, it was hot 🥵 and very little pay 💰 and they make you work 6 days a week. I worked during Covid and they should have paid employees more since the place was so dirty and unhealthy. Big rats 🐀 walking around and dust everywhere. You definitely get a workout there they have you working 12 hours picking trash, and 1-2 hours extra mandatory overtime to cleanup. I worked from 3pm till 2am sometimes wouldn’t come home till like 4-5 in the morning and do it all again the next day. You can literally get a warning or a write up for grabbing garbage with one hand if you get tired after so many hours of working.