A conveyor belt is a looped belt that is driven by and wrapped around one or more pulleys. It is powered by an electric motor and supported by a metal plate bed or rollers upon which the conveyor belt rests. The pulley that powers a conveyor belt is referred to as the drive pulley and has an unpowered idler pulley.

Generally, conveyor belts are made from a rubber or plastic compound combined with one or more layers of fabric material or different diameters of steel cables. A conveyor belt may be made from polyvinyl chloride and fabric such as polyester or styrene-butadiene rubber and several layers of polyester or nylon fabric.