Plastics are sorted by hand not only in Brno, but also in other parts of the country. The speed and quality of sorting is mainly influenced by the human factor. Adherence to strict hygiene and safety rules in direct contact with waste is also problematic.
“The manual sorting line for paper and plastic is on the edge of its capacity. Last year, it processed six and a half thousand tons of paper and four thousand tons of plastic. Manual sorting is no longer enough. The amount of imported paper and plastic is increasing every year, by a total of 40 percent over the last five years, “said Filip Leder, Chairman of the Board of SAKO Brno.
Manual sorting of plastic in Brno will soon be a thing of the past. The company will soon start building a optical sorting line with automatic operation. This will significantly increase the sorting speed, the technology can sort up to 4.5 tons of waste per hour.
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The automatic sorting line will enable efficient processing of the collected plastic and paper, and it will be the first in the country to deal with the waste stored in bags, which it will tear up so that it is already in bulk on the sorting line. Optical separators automatically sort waste according to their type, such as PET bottles and beverage cartons. PETs are also recognized by their color.
“The purity of the sorted material will be about ninety percent, a value that sorting lines based on the human factor simply cannot reach,” adds Leder.
The line further divides the waste into 2D parts (bags, foils) and 3D parts (cups, trays, cans). Modern technology can also handle metals. With an efficiency of at least 80 percent, the magnetic separator captures, for example, cans, lids, cans. The powerful press with a capacity of 6 tons per hour then compresses sorted plastic and paper into bales for further processing.
“High-capacity machine sorting will significantly increase efficiency and ensure incomparably lower error rates during optical sorting. In addition, at the time of the viral epidemic, it turns out that this method of optical sorting will be significantly safer in terms of possible transmission of the infection, “adds Leder. The automatic line could be in operation in the autumn of next year.