an automated container handling and processing system includes a metal container handling subsystem and a plastic container handling subsystem . each container subsystem includes a roller conveyor for conveying a plurality of large bins carrying crushed containers derived from reverse vending machines . an automated dumping station receives and inverts the bins sequentially to dump the crushed containers into a central hopper , then sends the bins to a washer which cleans the bins for reuse . a separate belt conveyor receives containers which do not require identification or accounting and conveys them to the central hopper . a second belt conveyor which also leads to the central hopper receives containers from one or more sorting machines which process non - crushed containers from non - rv machine return centers . each sorting machine is capable of reading a bar code on each container to identify the brand and of providing that information to a central accounting system which keeps track of the number of containers of each brand and credits them to the correct original distributor . the central hopper feeds all containers to a crusher / baler which crushes and bales containers from all three sources .