A shaft arrangement for a reverse vending machine, in particular for a compressing arrangement in a reverse vending machine used for recycling. The shaft arrangement includes a sidewall having an inside and an outside, and at least one opening, and at least one shaft extending through the at least one opening, and the at least one shaft includes a radial groove. The shaft arrangement includes a bearing arrangement arranged on the outside of the sidewall, the bearing arrangement includes a bearing block and a bearing connected to the at least one shaft. The shaft arrangement includes a seal arranged around the outer surface of the at least one shaft at the at least one opening. The bearing block is arranged spaced apart from the sidewall to create a gap between the sidewall and the bearing block. The shaft arrangement further includes a plate arranged on the inside of the sidewall.

A system and method for processing objects having contaminating particles includes the steps of shredding the objects in a shredding chamber to form a plurality of shredded fragments, wherein the shredding chamber is arranged to be substantially combustion resistant, and removing the contaminating particles from the plurality of shredded fragments.

A method is provided to clean glass mixed with non-glass undifferentiated trash. In the method, the glass pieces are kept as large as possible to thereby minimize the amount of surface area that needs to be cleaned. The glass pieces are cleaned without washing the glass pieces with water or a surfactant during the cleaning process. The non-glass contaminants are liberated from the glass by drying and abrasion, and then removed from the glass by screening and density separation.

Systems and methods for waste volume reduction and disposal, including a system comprising a feeder chute rotatable about a first axis; a shredder assembly comprising a housing configured to accept waste from the feeder chute and a shaft within the housing rotatable about a second axis; a plurality of blades attached to the shaft so as to shred the waste into shredded pieces; and a plurality of cleaning arms positioned such that at least a portion of the plurality of blades passes between two or more of the cleaning arms when the plurality of blades is rotated within the housing by the shaft; an agent reservoir positioned proximate to the shredder assembly and configured to contain and disperse agent(s); and an exit chute having an entry end aligned with the bottom of the housing so as to accept and dispense the shredded pieces of waste.

Systems and methods for waste volume reduction and disposal, including a system comprising a feeder chute rotatable about a first axis; a shredder assembly comprising a housing configured to accept waste from the feeder chute and a shaft within the housing rotatable about a second axis; a plurality of blades attached to the shaft so as to shred the waste into shredded pieces; and a plurality of cleaning arms positioned such that at least a portion of the plurality of blades passes between two or more of the cleaning arms when the plurality of blades is rotated within the housing by the shaft; an agent reservoir positioned proximate to the shredder assembly and configured to contain and disperse agent(s); and an exit chute having an entry end aligned with the bottom of the housing so as to accept and dispense the shredded pieces of waste.

RV system configured to receive, accept, recognize and identify containers made of various materials for sorting, processing and storing each processed material separately.

Methods for waste volume reduction and disposal, including a method comprising feeding waste into a feeder chute having an intake end, an output end, and an interior, wherein at least the intake end of the feeder chute is rotatable about a first axis, wherein the output end of the feeder chute comprises one or more ball bearings; rotating the output end of the feeder chute utilizing the one or more ball bearings in order to accept waste into the feeder chute; shredding the waste into shredded pieces with a shredder assembly; adding a reservoir positioned proximate to the shredder assembly, the reservoir having an applicator configured to disperse one or more agents from the reservoir onto the shredded pieces of the waste; and dispersing the one or more agents from the applicator of the reservoir onto the shredded pieces of the waste.