Well, some are magnetic, some are not, that's just one way to differentiate them. Here are a couple videos I know (in French) from consignesdetri.fr: https://

Well, some are magnetic, some are not, that's just one way to differentiate them. Here are a couple videos I know (in French) from consignesdetri.fr: https://youtu.be/KgW1TP909NU?t=36 https://youtu.be/KgW1TP909NU?t=36 (you can see the magnetic belt at that timestamp) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMJ-pDG_afk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMJ-pDG_afk For an aluminium can. They mention doing the same with eddy currents [1] [2] I also recall seeing a big, spiky magnetic roller in some video instead of a magnetic belt, so implementation details can vary, but this seems to be pretty standard stuff. Less standard is the plastic-sorting equipment, though that can be achieved with hyperspectral cameras and the like (read: expensive). In some places, there are separate bins for colored and transparent glass. Some facilities use detectors instead. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_current_separator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_current_separator [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_current#Repulsive_effects_and_levitation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_current#Repulsive_effects...