Abstract: A three phase method of treating solid waste to eliminate hazards and preserve the resource value of the constituent materials, separating and recovering the constituent materials, and productively using those constituent materials, includes, in the first phase, steps to separate ferrous metal constituents from the waste stream, shred and grind the solid wastes to generally uniform small particles, dry the waste material to remove essentially all free moisture and render the wastes biologically inert, compact the dried waste materials into uniform high density blocks, and encapsulate the compacted blocks; includes, in the second phase, steps to return the compacted blocks to uniform particles and separate the combined constituent materials on the basis of density, with primary processing utilizing a series of fluidized bed and cyclonic separator assemblies and with secondary processing utilizing combinations of vibratory conveyors, melt separation assemblies, and the like; and includes, in the third phase, st

Abstract: A method of separating solid waste materials, in the form of dried particles of substantially uniform size, into constituent materials on the basis of density, with primary stage processing utilizing one or more fluidized bed and cyclonic separator assemblies to separate materials on the basis of density, is provided by the invention. Secondary stage processing utilizing combinations of vibratory conveyors and melt separation assemblies, is also provided. As the waste materials move through the separator assemblies the initial stream is further refined into a plurality of streams of increasingly specific densities as a result of air flow separation of lighter particles from heavier particles in each assembly. Further refined separation may be achieved through the use of vibratory conveyors and melt separation.

Abstract: A method of separating solid waste materials, in the form of dried particles of substantially uniform size, into constituent materials on the basis of density, with primary stage processing utilizing a series of fluidized bed and cyclonic separator assemblies to separate materials on the basis of density, followed by secondary stage processing utilizing combinations of vibratory conveyors, melt separation assemblies, and the like, is provided by the present invention. As the waste materials move through the separator assemblies the initial stream is further refined into a plurality of streams of increasingly specific densities as a result of air flow separation of lighter particles from heavier particles in each assembly. Further refined separation may be achieved through the use of vibratory conveyors, melt separation, and the like.