Yogurt pots, food containers and even coloured plastic sparkling water bottles: new waste that has so far been little recycled can now be recycled after passing through the second “sursorting” centre in France, in Épinal in the Vosges.
In a building of more than 4,000 m2, hundreds of packages, crushed and of all colors, follow a long path on a conveyor belt similar to a roller coaster at a fun fair. Along the way, they pass through optical sorting machines where they are classified and separated gradually.
“Each time, the waste arrives in a sorting machine. And each time, sorting is carried out,” Stéphane Bertrand, the site manager, explained to AFP.
Two machines are thus responsible for sorting transparent waste, while two others, a little further away, set aside those made of colored polyethylene terephthalate (PET), such as bottles of sparkling water or cans of oil.
Waste meeting the machine’s criteria will be separated from the others and will continue its path to a final crossing point, in a cabin where agents will check that there is no unwanted object, such as paper or trash. cardboard.
In total, ten optical sorting machines are installed, supplemented by a robot.
The plant also houses a self-diagnostic device based on artificial intelligence to analyze the quality of plastics and reduce sorting errors.
All this waste arrives by truck in the form of “bales”, large blocks of compacted and mixed waste. They come from one of the 120 yellow bin waste sorting centres, which have set them aside.
– Recycle more –
Existing sorting centres continue to use household products that they have been sorting for a long time, such as transparent PET water bottles or laundry detergents, explains Éric Fromont, director of sorting and oversorting centre projects at Citeo in France.
They also operate a “third flow”, intended to set aside seven other materials, which will be processed by oversorting centers such as that of Épinal.
Since last year, yellow bins can accommodate all household packaging, whatever its material, except glass. But for each molecule, there is a different recycling technique.
For this reason, white PET, with which milk bottles are made, pots and trays of fruit and vegetables, cold meats, or pastries, polystyrene yogurt pots or several types of thermoplastic trays must be subject to specific sorting in order to be subsequently sent, and in sufficient quality, to recyclers.
Some 25,000 tonnes of these plastics, which are usually rarely recycled, must be recycled each year in this sorting center, the second to have opened its doors in France, after another in Ruffey-les-Beaune (Côte-d’Or).
– Sort in 12 minutes –
Installed on the site of a former sorting centre in Épinal, which was completely emptied to allow the installation of the imposing machines, the new plant is capable of processing waste in 12 minutes.
These installations required 19 million euros, including 15 million financed by Citeo, the organization which organizes the collection, sorting and recycling of household waste in France.
In total, four centers are planned by Citeo for the moment, with a recycling objective of 70,000 tonnes of packaging per year. The one in Épinal, equipped by the organization, is managed by Suez.
“This represents a certain volume, because the density of plastics is quite light,” notes Mr. Bertrand.
Once sorted, the waste, divided by material, is collected by trucks which will transport it to plastic recycling customers. From Épinal, the material is sent to “Colmar, Verdun, Mâcon or Belgium”, explains Mr. Fromont.
In 2022, only 24.5% of plastic packaging was recycled in France, while the objective set by the European Union is to reach 55% by 2030.
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