WEBVTT

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(garbage truck running)

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(garbage truck idling)

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(garbage settling)

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(garbage truck running)

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(upbeat music)

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- [Narrator] Recycling
right begins with you.

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Everyone wants to do the right thing

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when it comes to the environment,

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especially for the hundreds
of recyclable products

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and packaging that we encounter every day,

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from the morning newspaper, cereal box,

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and milk jug to the
online shopping package

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and junk mail at the end of the day.

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We all have a part to play
in keeping these materials

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out of the landfill,
saving natural resources,

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and reducing our environmental footprint.

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For over 30 years, more
than three decades,

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Monroe County residents
have enjoyed a progressive

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and convenient curbside recycling program.

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In 2014, the MCRC began
accepting mixed recycling,

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a convenient recycling
solution for residents

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and a powerful action for our planet.

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All your bottles, cans,
paper, and cardboard

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can be put into one container.

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So how does it get separated
so it can all be recycled?

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The answer is an amazing
facility in Monroe County

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that few people have ever been inside.

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Opened in 1992, the Monroe
County Recycling Center

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is an incredible place
where machines and people

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sort recycled materials so they can go on

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to be made into new things.

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The City of Rochester and other municipal

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and private companies collect
and deliver mixed recyclables

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to the Monroe County Recycling Center.

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Waste Management operates the
facility for Monroe County

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and markets the recyclables
for sale to end users.

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Together, these partners
provide 200 tons per day

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of quality materials that are diverted

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from the waste stream.

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Approximately 95% of the
materials that come here

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get recycled and reused.

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The remaining materials, things
that are incorrectly placed

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in curbside recycling bins, are sent

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to the Mill Seat Landfill,
where energy generated

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through the waste decomposition
process is captured

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and used to make electricity.

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So how does the Recycling Center work?

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After your waste hauler collects
your curbside recycling,

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trucks back in to unload
the mixed recycling

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onto the tipped floor.

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Everything, newspapers, junk
mail, cartons, cans, bottles,

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jars, cardboard boxes, all in
one enormous unsorted pile.

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All of these materials
go onto a conveyor belt,

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which speeds them toward workers

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who do some initial sorting.

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Why is that so important?

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These workers need to remove
things that could damage

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the machinery, things like
rocks, chains, and ropes,

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and several items that
present big problems,

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propane tanks, lithium ion batteries,

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plastic bags and film.

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Propane tanks and lithium ion batteries

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create hazardous situations.

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When compressed in the trash
truck or recycling system,

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rechargeable batteries and propane tanks

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can cause explosions and fires.

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Bring them to the ecopark
for proper disposal.

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No appointment necessary.

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Never place propane tanks
or lithium ion batteries

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in trash or recycling.

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Plastic bags, film, wrap, and textiles

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wind around machinery,
causing delays while equipment

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is shut down so that the
materials can be removed.

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This is why plastic film and bags

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should never be placed
in curbside recycling.

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Return them to the ecopark
or a store near you.

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Textiles can be donated to your preferred

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local not-for-profit organization

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as long as they are
clean, dry, and odorless.

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Next, a conveyor takes
the remaining materials

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to a series of screens that
don't look like screens at all.

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The first screen is a series

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of rapidly spinning, star-shaped wheels.

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Bigger pieces of cardboard
float on top of it,

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sorting them from the
rest of the materials,

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which fall down between the wheels.

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That's why it's called a
screen because certain things

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stay on top but everything
else falls through.

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The things that fall
through the first process

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go to another screen with
smaller star-shaped wheels.

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Newspapers float on top while
everything else falls through.

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The recyclables that fall
through race on a conveyor belt

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to something called the paper magnet.

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The paper magnet isn't actually a magnet

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but a slanted conveyor with suction,

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created by a vacuum underneath.

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It's just enough suction
to grab onto paper

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while letting other things pass over.

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So already the recycling
center has separated

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almost all of the paper
products from the cans,

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bottles, jugs, jars, and tubs.

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At this point, the remaining
materials make their way

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to the container sorting area.

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Ferrous materials like tin are magnetic.

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They are pulled out by a
magnet and then dropped

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into their own holding bunker.

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Sorting aluminum containers
such as soda cans

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is a more complicated process.

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They're not magnetic so something called

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an eddy current separator is used.

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Inside this big box, a magnetic rotor

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spins at over 3,000
revolutions per minute.

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That produces an electric current

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in conducting metals like aluminum.

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And that current creates a magnetic field

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in those metals that weren't
magnetic to begin with.

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This newly-created magnetic
field opposes the field

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of the rotor, propelling aluminum cans

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into their own separate storage bunker.

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So now metals have been
sorted from mixed recycling.

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What is left are plastic containers.

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Just because something
is plastic or marked

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with a recycling symbol does
not mean it can be recycled.

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Instead, recycle by shape:
plastic bottles, jugs,

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jars, and tubs.

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Put caps and lids back
on before recycling.

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Containers should always
be clean, dry, and empty.

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Remember, when in doubt, throw it out.

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At the Recycling Center,
all plastics are sorted

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using optics, a combination
of lights and air.

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Plastic clamshells and
foam, any size, any shape,

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are not recyclable in your
curbside recycling bin.

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That includes to-go
containers, egg cartons,

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and produce packaging.

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Now that everything has
been sorted, what's next?

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Each separate type of
material goes to a bailer.

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This powerful piece of equipment
compresses similar types

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of material into giant blocks
weighing 1,000 pounds or more.

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There are separate bales
for newspaper, for cartons,

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for cardboard, for tin, for aluminum,

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and for each type of plastic.

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These bales get sold to companies

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that will give them new
life as new containers,

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new paper products, new cans, new boxes.

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For example, water bottles are
made into fleece and carpet.

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Milk jugs are made into plastic
lumber for benches, decks,

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playground equipment, and drainage pipes.

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Metal is recycled into car
parts, bicycles, and bridges.

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Paper is made into
products we use every day

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like tissue, toilet
paper, and paper towels.

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Old materials get a new life by recycling.

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Recycling is an incredible process.

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But don't forget that there are three Rs.

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Practice the first R, reduce,
by buying fewer things

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and making less waste.

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Easy ways to do this include using items

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such as reusable water bottles

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and reusable shopping bags.

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The second R, reuse,
means to use something

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over and over again, such as donating

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or handing down old
clothes or borrowing books

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and magazines from local libraries.

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Every year over 50,000 tons of materials

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are recycled at the Monroe
County Recycling Center.

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(upbeat music)