A method and apparatus for washing and separating pieces of plastics material from contaminating material that also includes metal elements includes a stirring device having a plurality of blades which are driven in a washing fluid to generate a turbulent stirring action to mechanically remove part of the contaminating material from the plastics material. The tilt of the blades and the rotation speed of the stirring device are chosen carefully to generate an upward thrusting action to maintain the plastics material with a specific weight that is greater than the specific weight of the fluid in a floating condition. The plastics material is retained inside the container for sufficient time to obtain a desired degree of purity and decontamination for the plastics material, after which it is evacuated by controlled overflow.

A method of reclaiming used tennis balls and transforming the material reclaimed from the tennis balls into soles for footwear. This multi-step process requires acquiring used tennis balls, grinding the tennis balls into ground rubber bits (usable elements) and tennis ball “fuzz” (unusable elements). The rubber and fuzz are passed through a screen which allows the rubber bits to exit the screen but retains the fuzz. The rubber is then mixed with an H.sub.2O and Polyurethane mixture to form a rubber mixture. This mixture is then pressed into a shape using a mold, cured, and then used to manufacture footwear.

An apparatus for producing pozzolanic material from consumer waste includes a glass separator unit to remove glass material from the waste and a size reduction unit downstream the glass separator unit. The glass separator unit includes a tubular outer member and an inner helical member extending inwardly from the inner surface of the tubular outer member and defining an open central bore. The tubular outer member and the open central bore define respective coaxial longitudinal axes that are disposed at an angle relative to a horizontal reference plane, with the inlet higher than the outlet. Non-glass/non-ceramic material is output through the open outlet end of tubular outer member utilizing a flow of water. The glass/ceramic material is output to the size reduction unit through the open inlet end of the tubular outer member utilizing the rotating inner helical member of the glass separator unit.

Systems and methods for separating materials and recovery of valuable copper from shredded end-of-life vehicles and appliances are disclosed. Shredded matter, or ASR, is sent through a series of sorters before reaching a system that separates out copper bits. The system utilizes a pair of conveyor belts; one for de-watering and removing most of the plastic and glass particles and a second below the first for separating the copper bits. The second conveyor belt has a belt with a particular tooth pattern and material softness, and is set at a slight uphill incline angle. Water is delivered from the top down the slope and the belt successfully transports mostly just copper up and over a top edge to a collection bin. A cascading series of pairs of conveyors may be used to ensure nearly complete recovery of the copper.

A method of recovering structural members from a used absorbent article comprising a front sheet, a back sheet and an absorbent body between the front sheet and the back sheet, wherein at least one of the front sheet and the back sheet includes a film, and wherein the absorbent body includes an absorbent body material, may include swelling the used absorbent article with water, applying a physical shock to and disintegrating the swelled used absorbent article into at least the film and the absorbent body material, and separating the film and the absorbent body material.

The invention relates to a plant for recycling used batteries, comprising a comminuting device to comminute used batteries in a comminuting space. The plant includes a drying device, arranged downstream of the comminuting device, to dry the comminuted batteries. The plant includes an intermediate storage device arranged between the comminuting device and the drying device. The plant includes a stirring means to keep the comminuted batteries received in the intermediate storage space in motion. The plant includes a respective supply line for inert gas for each of the comminuting space of the comminuting device, the intermediate storage space of the intermediate storage device, and a drying space of the drying device.

A method for recycling containers, including the following steps (1) to (4): a collecting step (1) of collecting containers, each of which is made of a sheet material including a plurality of layered film layers including a first resin film layer and a second resin film layer, is formed into a bag by attaching at least a part of a periphery of the sheet material to form a containing region for accommodating a content inside the second resin film layer, and includes, between the first resin film layer and the second resin film layer, a film attached portion and a filler enclosed portion; a shredding and washing step (2) of shredding the containers to obtain shreds, and washing the shreds; a recycled resin forming step (3) of forming a recycled resin by using the shreds; and a sheet material forming step (4) of forming at least a part of the sheet material by using the recycled resin.

The present invention refers to the to the reuse of waste materials based on synthetic resins and, more specifically refers to the reuse of disposable diapers, plastic packaging (PVC, PP, PET, and so on), for the production of raw material for extrusion, lamination, injection and rotational molding processes, among others. The invention consists of a system comprising a chopper, a mill for homogenization of particle size, a disk compactor employing frictional heating between a fixed disk and a rotating disk and cooling means by circulation of cold water inside said discs.

A polymeric aerosol dispenser that is recyclable. The recyclable polymeric aerosol dispenser including all polymeric components. These components being selectively either fixedly joined or separably joined based on the material composition of the component. Further, components may be selected for their density and, thus, their ability to float or sink during the recycling process. The recyclable polymeric aerosol dispenser is designed to minimize its impact on the PET recycling stream and to align with industry recyclability guidelines.

A plant for recovering and treating residues from crushing scrap is provided. The plant includes a first plant part and a second plant part. The first plant part is provided with crushing and separation means configured to extract ferrous materials, non-ferrous metals and plastic materials from the residues from crushing. The separation means are provided with a granulator system configured to reduce, in dry mode and without pre-screening stages, the residues from crushing into a stream of granular material. The second plant part is provided with means to treat and size the plastic materials configured to transform the plastic materials into additive material to be used, in particular, in iron and steel plants such as blast furnaces, electric arc furnaces or suchlike. The means to treat and size the plastic materials includes a dry system for cutting and/or grinding the plastic materials.