The Optibag System is a fully automated optical sorting process for source separated municipal solid waste in differently coloured waste bags.

This is how it works

Households and other user categories like restaurants, shops etc. are provided with waste bags in different colours. Each colour corresponds to a waste fraction, e.g. green for food waste, red for paper, yellow for cardboard packaging, blue for plastics and orange for the energy fraction.

The waste bags are all disposed of into the same chute / bin / container. The bags are collected with a conventional waste truck and transported to the Optibag plant. Upon arrival to the plant the waste bags are dumped into a receiving pit and transferred to a conveyor belt. Until this point, no separation of the bags has taken place.

Once on the conveyor, the bags are sorted automatically using camera technology that recognises the colour of the bag. When a bag of the right colour (for example green or red) passes a signal tells a pusher unit to push the bag off the first conveyor belt to a second one below that directs it to a container, bale press, compost plant or further treatment.

Benefits

Less space is required for waste storage and waste logistics are improved. All waste bags are collected in the same waste chute or bin. There is no need for a special recycling room or house to hold several bins for the different fractions.

Less transportation of separate waste fractions as all the waste fractions are collected in one batch. This helps decreasing CO2 emissions.

And last but not least – the sorting is done at home, not at a recycling station. Experience shows that the more comfortable it is to handle the separated waste, the more people tend to sort at source.

 

Optibag Systems AB is a fully-owned subsidiary within the Envac Group. Read more about Optibag on www.optibag.com