Central sorting and recovery of MSW recyclable materials: A review of technological state-of-the-art, cases, practice and implications for materials recycling

Physical processing and sorting technology has reached a high level of maturity, and many quality issues linked to cross-contamination by commingling have been successfully addressed to date. New sorting plants tend to benefit from economies of scale, and innovations in automation and process control, which are targeted at curtailing process inefficiencies shown by operational practice. Technology developed for the sorting of commingled recyclables from separate collection is also being successfully used to upgrade residual MSW processing plants. The strongest motivation for central sorting of residual MSW is found for areas where source separation and separate collection is difficult, such as urban agglomerations, and can in such areas contribute to increasing recycling rates, either complementary to- or as a substitute for source separation of certain materials, such as plastics and metals.