18
2022
Innovation
Sorting masters keep pushing
boundaries
Where there’s scrap, there’s equipment to deal with it. Most notably, sorting solutions to properly identify and separate
all materials into different waste fractions. Let’s review some of the latest developments in this vital sector.
T
he global waste sorting equipment mar-
ket was worth more than US$ 733 million
(EUR 622 million) in 2020. Analysts at
Fortune Business Insight expect this sector’s
size to exceed US$ 1.8 billion (EUR 1.5 bil-
lion) by 2027, which represents a compound
annual growth rate of 12.4% during the fore-
cast period.
The biggest segment by material category
is recovered cardboard and paper; 23% of
equipment is used to treat this type of scrap.
Meanwhile, Europe is leading the game
worldwide, with sorting tech valued at ap-
proximately US$ 315 million (EUR 267 mil-
lion) last year.
It’s clear to see that the pandemic has had
a lasting impact on the already-maturing
sorting technology industry. Companies are
more eager to introduce automated sorting
solutions to phase out manual sorting jobs
so they may better cope with COVID-related
health concerns.
In fact, technology pioneer Tomra Sorting
Solutions ended the second quarter of 2021
with continued quarter-over-quarter growth.
Ceo Stefan Ranstrand says the order intake
was at an ‘all-time high’ (EUR 77.5 million),
leading to a new record in the order backlog.
Revenue was up 33% for Tomra’s Mining &
Recycling division.
German tech for Brazil
In a nation of over 211 million people, Brazil’s
recyclers are facing a dirty and heavily co-min-
gled waste stream. This means that sorting recy-
clables is not exactly an easy task. Orizon Valori-
zação de ResÃduos is eager to open a new chapter
by investing in advanced technology supplied by
German firm Stadler. ‘We want to build the larg-
est mechanical sorting plant for municipal waste
in the country,’ says Alexandre Citvaras, Orizon’s
director of business development.
The prospective facility will be able to treat
500 000 tonnes of solid waste per annum once
it becomes operational next year. It is expect-
ed to boost the recycler’s sorting efficiency by
up to 85% and to employ a crew of 150 people.
The latest collaboration with Stadler rep-
resents a ‘technological breakthrough’ in the
operations of the Jaboatão dos Guararapes
Ecopark at Pernambuco in north-east Brazil.
The plant received 1.5 million tonnes of mate-
rial in 2020, generated by 3.7 million people.
Citvaras is confident the investment will allow
the company to deliver higher-quality mate-
rials to domestic and international markets.
Orizon currently operates five ecoparks
in Brazil, and its waste management and
processing facilities receive approximately
4.6 million tonnes of waste per year, serving
around 20 million people and more than 500
business customers.
Flexible sorting plant
‘Our previous two recycling projects with
Stadler weren’t running as we had initially
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