What is “Single Stream” versus “Dual Stream” recycling?

Single Stream Recycling

Single Stream refers to the process of recycling materials that are all mixed together, including glass, paper, plastic and metal. In this process, everything is “commingled” in a slurry of recyclables and will need to be extensively sorted and processed before the materials eventually end up in the correct categories. For consumers, this means that when you are sorting your recycling from your trash you will toss all recycling into one big bin for pick-up with less pick-up time, to boot!

Dual Stream Recycling

Dual stream recycling, on the other hand, is where the consumer is doing more of the work before the recyclables reach the facility. The recyclables are sorted into paper/cardboard and metals/ glass/plastic by the consumer. Once the recyclables are received they are sorted for purity before being sent off to be refactored into the new products.

Source: www.generalkinematics.com