Ricova Sorting Centres
From collecting, to transport and processing the export of recyclable materials, our sorting centres are considered as an essential part of the recycling system. Hundreds of tons of material are delivered daily to them.
We are constantly working to promote the recovery of recyclable materials by improving our sorting techniques to prevent them from being sent to the landfills. We also constantly invest in new technological and more efficient equipment.
At each of our sorting centres, we sort materials, which allows us to maximize the recovery, recycling, and re-assessment of them. Contrary to popular belief, the path that recoverable materials take is different from that of waste that is transported to landfills!
Several steps are first necessary before they are transformed.
The collection
Once sorted by the consumer and disposed of in the recycling bin, the items are first picked up by the truck before being transported to the sorting centre.
The Sorting of Materials
At the sorting centre, recyclable materials are unloaded and put on a conveyor belt that transports them to the first stage of sorting, commonly known as triage.
Pre-Triage
In the first step, all materials that are not recoverable must be removed.
Triage
The mixed materials are, then, sent to several separators. The fibers (paper and cardboard) are separated there from the containers of all compositions. After, we must remove the other materials, that is all cans, glass bottles and plastic containers, through several techniques.
An electromagnet is used to remove all steel containers and an optical sorter determines their composition before being catapulted in its appropriated compartment with a jet of air.
The glass, generally crushed in the process, is mechanically filtered to be sent to a processor.
Thus, in a sorting centre, the work is done thanks to machines and humans. About half of the sorting is done mechanically through separators and the rest is done manually by sorters, employees dedicated to completing this last important step.
Building Bundles
Separated, the materials are accumulated into reserves. Once filled, they are sent to the press, which transforms them into bundles. The bundles are no longer waste, but raw materials that can now be used to create new products! Recyclers will, then, transform them to take on different forms.
