What it is
Drop a handful of shredded waste into a column of rising air. The light bits — paper, labels, plastic film, foam — float up and away. The heavy bits — rigid plastic, glass, stones — fall through. That’s an air classifier.
Ours zig-zags: eight printed stages with 120° bends. Every bend gives the pieces another chance to separate, so the split is cleaner than in a straight tube. The air comes from a salvaged wet/dry shop-vac, with a small valve that adjusts the speed for each kind of waste (1.5–4.5 m/s).
Why it matters
It turns one mixed stream into two clean ones:
- paper and card for our moulded pulp;
- rigid plastic for the screens, the water tanks and the machines that make new things.
Safety
Fine plastic and paper dust can burn and shouldn’t be breathed. The column runs under suction, through a cyclone and a fine filter, with no ignition sources nearby and everything metal earthed. The salvaged vacuum is tested and tagged by an electrician before it runs.
Where it stands
Designed on paper: physics, 19 printed parts checked, renders, parts list, safety and test plan. It belongs to Phase B of the universal recycler, January to June 2027, and runs in the garage.
Les plans sont gratuits — the plans are free.
