Re-sorting

Sorting lines are designed to treat waste collected from containers into a form suitable for further processing, i.e. into a secondary raw material. Sorting lines are devices that are located in halls and usually consist of waste reception areas, re-sorting technology (most often sorting cabins, conveyors and presses) and areas for storing secondary raw material. Re-sorting is generally done manually, handling technology such as forklifts or loaders are necessary for waste transfer. The principle of re-sorting is to dispose of unwanted admixtures that must not enter the recycling process and re-sort the waste down to individual materials according to the processor requirements. Waste that is unsuitable for further processing is called discard.

In the Czech Republic, there are approximately 130 manual sorting lines for paper and plastics with a similar level of technological. Two automated sorting lines for plastics are already being tested in 2023, where a large percentage of the work will be carried out by automatic separators. Glass sorting lines are generally automated, containing a large number of sensors and separators. There are 6 of these in operation in the Czech Republic. Metals are usually sorted in recycling buy-back centres and scrap yards, textile in specialised sorting plants.