THE PLANT
Production Process
The developed technological system is aimed at sorting the dry fraction of municipal solid waste, as well as assimilated and assimilable special waste, collected through separate waste collection to send them for subsequent recovery.
The entire waste sorting and recovery plant was designed with a priority on flexibility to ensure the treatment of various types of waste. With this in mind, the production process was divided into different processing lines, each equipped with its own operating modes and suited to treat one or more types of material.
Within the waste sorting and recovery plant, the production process is divided into the following phases:
- material reception
- material sorting
- further processing
- storage
- shipping
1. Material Reception
The delivery vehicles arriving at the plant, after passing through the main entrance and completing the inspection formalities, are weighed. Then, following a route indicated by arrows and signs, they proceed to the unloading areas related to the various planned processing operations. The individual waste materials are unloaded inside specific areas awaiting processing, avoiding any risk of contamination between different products and materials.
Once in the area, the delivery vehicles unload the material and, after a brief maneuver, exit the building from the same side they entered. After returning to the weighbridge for tare measurement, they clear the plant through the driveway gate.
2. Material Sorting
Following the delivery of materials by the arriving vehicles, the reception area operator collects the waste to feed the plant and/or create temporary accumulation storage.
Once the compliance and type of material have been verified, the operator in charge of feeding each line directs it for processing.
The waste sorting procedure takes place according to the following modes:
a) dry waste from multi-material separate collection is mainly directed to sorting line no. 1 – second basin plant for the treatment of the dry fraction of MSW;
b) paper and cardboard from single-material separate collection are mainly directed to sorting line no. 2;
c) residual dry waste is directed to the RDF (Refuse-Derived Fuel) production line – additional technological plant;
d) asbestos waste is exclusively stored in a dedicated incoming materials storage bay without any processing; this waste is accepted at the plant only if already packaged in closed containers (big bags, boxes, pallets with heat-shrunk polyethylene wrapping, etc.);
e) containers of plant protection products and waste from medical and veterinary clinics, and beauty salons are exclusively stored in a dedicated incoming materials storage bay without any processing; this waste is accepted at the plant only if already packaged in closed containers (big bags, boxes, pallets with heat-shrunk polyethylene wrapping, etc.);
f) waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is stored in a dedicated incoming materials storage bay;
g) waste equipment containing HCFC and CFC chlorofluorocarbons is processed on the specific authorized line;
h) other types of non-hazardous waste (e.g., tires, glass, inert materials, etc.) for which only storage is required are deposited in other uncovered bays as indicated in the project layout; storage always takes place by homogeneous types.
3. Further Processing
Depending on the type of material, this is carried out in one of the plant’s 3 lines.
4. Storage
All baled materials and waste at the end of the sorting processes are stored in the areas specifically identified for this purpose and indicated in the project drawings.
5. Shipping
The shipping of processed materials and waste is currently carried out by means of truck-trailers or articulated lorries: curtain-side trucks in the case of baled products, or roll-off containers in the case of materials contained within dumpsters.
The company’s goal is to use the dedicated railway siding within the plant’s compound in the near future.
