Collection
Waste collection procedures vary; they are devised in order to sort out the types of waste according to the selection,
treatment and disposal systems available in the area. Collection can be mono-material or multi-material (for example, cans can be placed together with plastic or with glass); some types of waste, such as polylaminate materials (packaging composed of various types of materials) may be recycled (and recovered)
or they may have to be placed in the mixed waste bin, if they cannot be processed in the area where the collection takes place. Sometimes there are recycling plants which use particular technologies that can be applied in the treatment of co-mingled waste, such as mechanical-biological
treatment plants which use both mechanical and biological processes to classify, separate and treat the different materials.
After collection, organic waste is sent to composting plants. For dry waste (paper, glass, plastic, metals), the selection, treatment and recycling processes begin in specialised plants specific to the various types of materials, where they are transformed into new raw materials (secondary raw materials), which are then used to manufacture new products.
It is important to learn the rules well: “bad” waste sorting is sometimes worse than just throwing the object into a “mixed” bin: it makes the selection and treatment process more difficult and costly and it can compromise recycling.
