Paper separated in the previous stages of the recycling process needs to be sorted into further types: cardboard, newspaper and pamphlets, and mixed paper.
The paper cascade
An 'air knife' creates an even stream of air and sends sheets of paper to a paper cascade.
In the paper cascade, powerful fans open up the sheets of paper and blow them out of the top. Heavy material such as containers and pieces of glass drop to the bottom and rejoin the stream of containers, to leave us with 'clean' paper.
Final paper sorting
The remaining paper that does not get sent to the cascade goes through an automatic sort. The machine uses infrared light, cameras and a colour identifier to reject non-paper that is not suitable for recycling.
Finally, manual 'pickers' do a quality check and remove any remaining contaminants.
Cardboard, which had been separated by the trommel, is also checked a final time for quality.
At the end of the sorting, we get three separate types of paper:
- cardboard.
- newspapers and pamphlets.
- other mixed paper.
All three types are then baled and stored, ready for transportation.
Previous stage: separating glass
Next stage: sorting plastic