J.P. Mascaro & Sons has trash hauling contracts with the borough of Catasauqua and Hanover Township, among others in the Lehigh Valley.

When Hanover resident Tom Lerch noticed that the crew manning a recycling truck in his neighborhood just lumped everything together, he voiced his concern to township council members that the recycling trash was not being recycled, but was being dropped into a regular landfill instead.

Frank Sau, director of communications for Mascaro, told The Press recently that new technology makes the sorting of recyclable materials possibe.

"The recycling business has changed a lot and we use more technology to make the process more efficient," he said.

What started out in the 1970s with people taking newspapers to a fundraising trailer has grown into a program where many different products are recycled.

"Until recently, we never had the technology or ability to sort recyclables by any means other than hand sorting," Sau said. "All of our recycling trucks had separate bins and we asked customers to do the sorting for us."

Waste disposal companies do not want recyclables in their landfills.

"At Pioneer Crossing [Mascaro's landfill in Birdsboro], we have probably 10 years left," he said. "We spent millions bringing it up to standard. Now it is our model operation. Other landfill operators come here to see what we have done."

The amount of trash collected by Mascaro and deposited in landfills is decreased when recyclables are emphasized.

"When you see the amount of trash we as a society discard, you get an appreciation for the urgency to increase recyclables," said Sau.

What Mascaro and others have seen is that single-stream recycling, where all recyclables are mixed together in one collection, increases, and some cases, doubles the amount of recyclables collected.

Sau outlined the advantages for Mascaro: the company can use the same trucks to pick up recyclables as they do for regular refuse, the amount of trash going to the landfill is reduced and the sorted, recycled material is feedstock to manufacturing processes that use recycled materials to produce new products.

Municipalities receive benefits through increased recycling revenues and less trash in the community. Homeowners are not burdened with the task of sorting used and often-messy containers.

The ideal situation is one used in South Whitehall Township, where the township supplies standard containers. Trash can be picked up with a mechanical arm extending from the truck, and then recyclables follow.

"For me, this is a one-man operation," said driver John Master.

The efficiency keeps costs low. A rule excludes the use of plastic garbage bags for recyclables.

"Some municipalities balk at the cost of providing standard containers, but it keeps cost low," said Sau.

With single-stream processes, recyclables arrive at the recycling facility where advanced technology is used to sort through the compacted recyclables. Area recyclables are sent to the Lehigh Valley Recycling Center, which acts as a transfer station. Larger transport trucks take the compacted trash to the sorting center.

Typically, the single-stream recycling center has a tipping floor where trucks place the compacted recyclables. A mechanical claw grabs material from the tipping floor and drops it into a spinning drum. Anything that might jam the machinery is sorted manually. A series of star-shaped discs lift out corrugated cardboard. Smaller star screens lift out different grades of paper.

Glass, which is heavier than plastic or aluminum, falls through the screens into bins and is sent to a separate station to be ground into sand.

A magnet passes over the conveyor and picks up steel, usually about 4 percent of the total.

The system creates an eddy field around aluminum and pushes it to a separate conveyor.

Infrared lasers power on to detect different types of plastic and an air blast sends plastic residue to selected locations.

Balers complete the process by compacting the recyclables for reuse.

"The biggest recycling complaint we get is that homeowners want us to pick up electronics. The state outlawed electronics in landfills and recycling facilities because there are hazardous materials in electronic products. We are working to see how electronic items can be handled more efficiently," said Sau.

Mascaro's latest recycling plant is coming on line at Pioneer Crossing in January 2015.

"The new facility is 73,500 square feet and will handle 350 tons of recycled products every day," Sau.

The recycling facility will have a 9,000 square foot drop-off area.