a waste treatment system which is capable of handling materials of widely different physical characteristics such as glass , metal , and fibrous and plastic waste , incorporates a rotor rotatably mounted in a waste receiving vessel , the rotor being adapted to fracture brittle material , compact malleable material , and otherwise pulverize the frangible waste to a particulate form small enough to be extracted through a perforated plate . the rotor also circulates the material in a slurry form within the vessel in a vortical pattern so that the waste is repeatedly treated until it is ejected from the vessel . a series of space attrition bars are mounted outwardly of the rotor to provide an annularly shaped , discontinuous attrition surface , and hammers or flails are pivotally mounted on the rotor to reduce into smaller pieces materials which are flung upon or between the attrition bars by the rotor . where the waste material contains a high proportion of rags , tubing and other stringy material , a rotating chopper blade is provided to chop this portion of the waste into smaller pieces which are more readily handled by the rotor and flails . waste materials which are not readily reduced to a pulverized state by the system are segregated from those which are and removed separately .