Process of transforming waste material into useful material

1. A process for transforming waste material into useful material, the process comprising steps of:

(a) providing a quantity of waste material;

(b) pre-shredding the waste material into pre-shredded waste material having a nominal maximum piece size of at least about 6 inches;

(c) processing the pre-shredded waste material to at least partially remove one or more selected material components, thereby providing a processed pre-shredded waste material;

(d) secondarily shredding the processed pre-shredded waste material into a secondarily shredded waste material having a nominal maximum piece size no greater than about 2 inches; and

(e) hydrolyzing the secondarily shredded waste material under pressure greater than ambient pressure to create an aggregate cellulose pulp.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein:

in step (b) the waste material is pre-shredded into pre-shredded waste material having a nominal maximum piece size of at least about 8 inches.

3. The process of claim 2 , wherein:

in step (d) the secondarily shredded waste material has a nominal maximum piece size no greater than about 1 inch.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the processing step (c) further comprises:

separating the pre-shredded waste material into a smaller piece stream and larger piece stream with a primary separator.

5. The process of claim 4 , wherein the processing step (c) further comprises:

downstream of the primary separator, separating the smaller piece stream into heavier piece stream and a lighter piece stream.

6. The process of claim 4 , wherein:

the smaller piece stream has a nominal maximum piece size in a range of from about 1 inch to about 3 inches.

7. The process of claim 6 , wherein the processing step (c) further comprises:

upstream of the primary separator, separating ferrous material from the pre-shredded waste material.

8. The process of claim 6 , wherein the processing step (c) further comprises:

downstream of the primary separator separating at least a portion of the larger piece stream with a 2D/3D separator into a stream of substantially two-dimensional pieces and a stream of substantially three-dimensional pieces.

9. The process of claim 8 wherein the processing step (c) further comprises:

downstream of the primary separator and upstream of the 2D/3D separator separating the larger piece stream into heavier piece stream and a lighter piece stream, the lighter piece stream being directed to the 2D/3D separator.

10. The process of claim 9 wherein the processing step (c) further comprises:

separating the heavier piece stream into an organics stream comprising primarily organic material and an inorganics stream comprising primarily inorganic material with an organic/inorganic separator.

11. The process of claim 10 , further comprising:

processing the organic stream in an anaerobic digester.

12. The process of claim 10 , wherein:

the organic/inorganic separator includes a water bath separator configured to float the organic material away from the inorganic material.

13. The process of claim 10 , wherein the processing step (c) further comprises:

directing the organic stream to the secondary shredder.

14. The process of claim 9 , wherein the processing step (c) further comprises:

upstream of the secondary shredder, separating ferrous material from a material stream otherwise entering the secondary shredder.

15. The process of claim 9 wherein the processing step (c) further comprises:

removing polyvinylchloride (PVC) pieces from the stream of substantially three-dimensional pieces from the 2D/3D separator.

16. The process of claim 9 wherein the processing step (c) further comprises:

removing non-ferrous metal pieces from the stream of substantially three-dimensional pieces from the 2D/3D separator.