SORTING PLANTS
Sorting units are facilities with specific equipment which ensures the mechanical and manual separation of all materials received and which were selectively collected from the population. The separation according to various types of material enables sending the different materials to the recycling industry with the necessary quality requirements. This way, the recyclable materials separated by the population and placed in the recycling containers ("Ecopontos") – or collected by other systems – can later be transformed into new products.
The EGF Group has 22 packaging sorting plants around the country with different dimensions and capacities, which ensure that this thorough task is performed with quality and rigour. In 2019, 326.000 tons of paper, glass, plastic and metal were treated and sent for recycling, saving the country’s and the planet’s resources.
SELECTIVE COLLECTION OF PACKAGING
EGF is also responsible for the selective collection of packaging in 174 municipalities in Portugal, through its 11 concessionaires. This service, essential to the operation of the sorting plants, is a service provided in proximity to the populations and has multiple formats, given the need to adapt to each geographical area and to every target group: collection in recycling banks, door-to-door, with underground recycling banks or through voluntary delivery.
To this end, it has more than 75.000 containers for selective collection in the entire national territory and maintains a fleet more than 210 collection vehicles. This service is provided based on geographic information systems and the most recent methods in order to optimise routes, monitor container filling levels and guarantee high efficiency levels.
EGF also has 91 recycling centres used for selective disposal and specific collections of undifferentiated and organic waste. Selective collection of packaging is a necessary and demanding requirement, ensured by all companies in the EGF Universe.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Associated with the waste collection and treatment operations, there is another crucial activity – environmental education. Without the citizens’ cooperation, it is impossible to collect and recycle packaging; this is the first step to ensure in order for the waste to be transformed into products and return to the economy.
Ersuc - Coimbra Sorting Plant
Resiestrela - Fundão Sorting Plant
Location: Vila Fria, Viana do Castelo.
Origin: Selective collection of ecopoints, trade and services and voluntary deliveries to ecocenters and platforms.
Treatment process: Manual sorting, baling and shipping to the recycling industry.
Maximum processing capacity: 1t/h in packaging and 2t/h in paper.
Start of operations: May 1999
Waste accepted / treated: paper / cardboard (packaging and not packaging), plastic / metal and glass packaging, REEE, batteries and accumulators, used cooking oils, scrap, used tires.
Suldouro - Sermonde Sorting Plant
Valnor - Avis Sorting Plant
Valorlis - Leiria Sorting Plant
Valorsul - Lisbon Sorting Plant
Valorsul - West Sorting Plant
Algar - Barlavento Sorting Plant
Algar - Sotavento Sorting Plant
Location: Loulé
Origin: Selective Collection
Treatment process: Manual and mechanical
Maximum processing capacity: 22000 ton / year
Start of operation: July / 2001
Waste accepted / treated: Paper / Cardboard; Glass Packaging; Plastic Packaging; Ferrous Metal Packaging; Non - Ferrous Metal Packaging.
Amarsul - Seixal Sorting Plant
Location: Ecoparque do Seixal, Pinhal Alto dos Carrascos 2845-195 Amora;
Origin: Selective Collection, EcoCentres, Individuals, Municipalities;
Treatment process: Combination of manual and mechanical processes of separation, with the use of ballistic and optical separation, packaging and dispatch for the recycling industry;
Maximum processing capacity: 6.552 ton/year;
Start of commissioning: 1999;
Waste accepted / treated: Paper / Cardboard packaging; Glass Packaging; Plastic Packaging; Ferrous Metal Packaging; Non-ferrous metal packaging; Mixed Packaging, Composite Packaging, Electric and Electronic Equipment, Fluorescent lamps and other residues containing mercury, Batteries, Glass, Paper / Cardboard, Plastics, Metals.
Ersuc - Aveiro Sorting Plant
