From sorting to dispatch: the final step before recycling

Throughout this journey, we have followed the path of packaging from the moment it is placed in the recycling bin to its passage through the different treatment stages. But before it reaches the recycling industry, there is still one final phase to discover.

After being separated by material type, the waste goes through a final control stage. Despite all the technology involved in the process, manual verification remains essential to ensure that the material meets the quality required for recycling.

The materials are then directed to boxes, where they wait to move forward. Space management in these units is carried out automatically through sensors that monitor filling levels and signal when it is time to proceed to the next step: baling.

Before entering the press, some materials require additional preparation. This is the case for PET, used in many beverage bottles, which is perforated to remove the air trapped inside. This small detail helps optimise the process and makes baling more efficient.

The moment of pressing then arrives. The materials are compacted and transformed into large blocks known as bales which comprise a single type of material, carefully separated throughout the entire process.

It is in this form that the packaging begins the next stage of its journey. The bales are sent to the dispatch warehouse, where they await transportation to the recycling industry, where they will get a new life.

Watch the process here.

The journey that began with a simple gesture of recycling at home is now about to enter the final phase. The packaging is no longer waste: it is raw material ready to reenter the cycle. And so ends the journey of plastic and metal packaging within LIPOR.