Peter Karter

Peter Karter (1922–2010) was an American nuclear engineer and one of the pioneers of the modern recycling industry. He lived in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

Karter was one of the leading innovators in materials recycling and the first to engineer a "replicable system for mixed recyclables."

Personal life, education, and early career Karter was born in Chicago, Illinois. The son of Greek immigrants, Karter spent part of his childhood in Anavryti, Greece, but his school years in the United States. He graduated from Morris High School (Bronx, New York), the United States Military Academy at West Point, and the graduate school of engineering at Harvard University.

Karter left college after his freshman year to join the army. Though he qualified as a behind-enemy-lines parachutist, Karter chose instead to attend West Point where Congress had authorized an expanded Corps of Cadets to supply trained officers for a war that might prove lengthy. Karter served for a time in England before beginning West Point. The Elizabeth B. Karter Watch Rock Nature Preserve in Old Lyme is named in honor of Karter's late wife.

Recycling Karter founded Resource Recovery Systems, Inc. It was one of "the first materials recovery facilities (MRF) in the US."

In the wake of the enthusiasm for recycling that swept the nation following Earth Day (1970), many local governments set up recycling programs that required householders to drive their cans and glass bottles to a recycling depot, sort the glass bottles by color, and throw them into large metal containers. Karter invented and patented industrial processes capable of sorting cans according to their metal content, and of sorting glass into colors and mechanically crushing glass economically.

The technical problem that he overcame was that glass is very abrasive. "Conventional machines at that time were either not sophisticated enough to sort and separate to Karter's satisfaction or wore out too quickly. 'I don't know how many glass breakers we tried. Glass is a very hard material. We finally found a compromise solution: we designed machines so that the working parts could be quickly replaced when they wore out.'"

Karter was buried in the Duck River Cemetery. Karter explained his motivation this way, "At my age, it is easy enough to think that I will be dead before the environmental crunch comes down on mankind. I keep working because I keep thinking about my grandchildren."