Plastics, understood as the generic name of a group of polymeric materials, is one of the most common materials. But it is one of the most polluting and difficult to dispose of in solid waste. Plastic waste arrives loose or packaged. Within a huge hall with deafening noise, the actual selection takes place. Waste travels on belts at very high speed (3 m/s). And large air blowers make a first selection, separating the heaviest from the lightest ones. Then we pass to man. Employees carry out manual sorting of the 3% that machines cannot automatically separate.
At the end of the process you get large’ packs’ of bottles, the noble part of the plastic, divided by color. The clear ones are those with the greatest recycling potential. The darkest, most colored and opaque. less recyclable.
When everything is separated, the large bales of bottles and bottles are sent to the actual recycling plant. Caps, shoppers and other plastic residues of lower value are being used for the production of RDF.
Montello’s plant is the only one capable of treating this waste to produce bio-PET.