One person's trash is considered recycle treasure for the City of Newton.
Tons of recyclables take a ride on this conveyor belt.
And five people have the task of sorting through it all with the exception of a conveyor belt that separates thousands of aluminum cans every hour.
Inside the belt is a magnet that picks up the cans.
That magnet and its conveyor belt are made here just a few miles down the road at Bunting Magnetics.
"You would be surprised looking at our day-to-day lives where magnets are touching," says Barry Voorhees.
Inside Bunting's plant, Voorhees overseas the production of products built to house or use magnets.
"Our deliveries are quick and we have to make sure we get things through the process very quick," says Voorhees.
Production begins with raw materials, sheets of metal are cut and trimmed by machines programmed with the conveyor belt's design.
None of the metal is wasted, leftover pieces can later be used in assembling other parts of the belt.
Every machine is supervised.
Once cut, holes are punched into the metal for future attachments.
Rolling pins are cut next. And the pins keep the belt moving.
Machinists run different saws which cut and shape the pin under a water-based solution that keeps the metal cool.
Welders behind these curtains start piecing together all of the parts we've seen created down the manufacturing line.
Then, the magnets are added because most come non-magnetized.
"We hit it with a bolt of energy which creates the magnetism in the magnet itself," says Voorhees.
"We slice and dice the magnets or cut them to different diameters," says owner Bob Bunting.
The magnets are glued one by one inside the conveyor before adding the belt.
"The magnet is always doing the work, but its kind of behind the scenes," says Bunting
Bunting says it's the magnet the customer is buying.
"I still want to solve the world's problems through the use of magnets," says Bunting.
Like he did back at the recycling center.
At the recycling facility in Newton where this magnetic cross belt separator is literally pulling all of the magnetic cans out of the recycling stream.
Just another way magnets make life and recycling a little easier.
Bunting was founded in 1959 in Chicago, but moved to Newton in 1979.
Now, more than 50 years later there are seven major locations including Australia and China.
