Why Is Sorting Important When Recycling?
We all agree that we should recycle more at home, in the office or when out and about.Consequently, they can be collected and taken to the right place for recycling. This is what the process of sorting allows us to do.
And the effective sorting needs to happen first, in our own home and second, in sorting plants to which waste is collected. When you put a plastic bottle in the right recycling bag or bin, you are helping sort recyclables so that the right material can be fed into the right recycling process. If sorting does not happen, a lot of recyclable materials can end up in landfills. It will lead to valuable resources lost from our economy.
For instance, in Brussels consumers put plastic packaging, cans and beverage cartons in blue bags designed for recyclable packaging; paper in yellow bags for recycling; and glass needs to be taken to specific collection bins. Somewhat differently, in Vienna (Austria), citizens can expect their paper, metal, glass and plastic to be separately collected in different weeks of the year.．
Once recyclable materials are collected from your home, they are further sorted in specialized facilities which ensure the quality of the recycling process.Traditionally, sorting has been done either manually with workers sorting what can be recycled and picking out the materials to be discarded or mechanically. Today, however, new sorting technologies are being developed in order to speed up the process of sorting but to also cause better results. Exciting technologies using magnets or optical systems are being used to effectively sort materials so more of it can be recycled.
A. For effective recycling we need effective sorting.
B. Packaging at work is the first step towards recycling.
C. This is where different sorting techniques come into play.
D. So citizens need to be aware of their local collection system.
E. Collection systems can be very different from country to country.
F. The rest was landfilled or burned even though they could have been recycled or reused.
G. But for materials to be recycled, they first need to find their way to the right waste stream.
