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>Until someone develops some sort of multi-spectral imaging that can reliably sort plastic based on it's composition Funny you phrase it like that, because tha

>Until someone develops some sort of multi-spectral imaging that can reliably sort plastic based on it's composition Funny you phrase it like that, because that's exactly what the STEINERT UniSort does. Plastic waste is finely shredded, dumped onto a conveyor belt, imaged, then passed over air puff sorters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3QHa9oQshw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3QHa9oQshw Is it worth it? Of course not. Far cheaper and easier just to burn it. But for EU nations that are really dedicated to recycling, it can be done.

dgellow 3y ago
A lots of recycled plastic (I mean what people put in the plastic recycling bin) in the EU ends up being burned. They are sorted, cleaned up, then packaged into burnable units, because it’s the most cost effective way to reuse it I see 42% “energy recovery” from https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20181212STO21610/plastic-waste-and-recycling-in-the-eu-facts-and-figures https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20181212STO... from 2018. I found this from January 2024: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-new-boost-for-jobs-growth-and-investment/file-strategy-on-plastics-in-the-circular-economy https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-new-b... > In Europe, about 40 % of post-consumer plastic waste is incinerated with energy recovery, and the rest is either landfilled or recycled. About half of the plastic waste collected and recycled is treated in the European Union; the other half is exported, mainly to China.