From sorting to detail: how packaging follows through

After entering LIPOR’s Automatic Packaging Sorting Line (TAE), the packaging follows a continuous, uninterrupted path where everything begins mixed.

The first major stage is the Trommel, a cylindrical piece of equipment that resembles a giant washing machine drum. But here, instead of washing, the purpose is different: to separate materials by size. It is a first filter that organises the flow and prepares everything for the next step.

From this point onwards, the materials enter a sorting area where technology takes control of the process. On conveyor belts that cross like a true labyrinth, the packaging passes through optical systems and electromagnets that identify and separate the different materials with precision.

The optical systems can recognise the various types of plastic and direct them along different lines (such as PET, carton packaging, PVC, etc.), ensuring that each material follows its own path.

And this is also where artificial intelligence comes in. In addition to the optical sensors, there is a robot with arms, developed under the GRESINT project, which supports automatic sorting and strengthens the efficiency of the system.

Everything happens continuously, quickly and almost invisibly, but with a very clear purpose: better separation for better recycling.

And this is not the end of the journey.

In the next step, we will show how these materials are prepared and transformed before being sent to the recycling industry. Stay tuned.