First in Sweden: Near

The NIT system captures plastic packaging, Source: Unsplash

In fact, the more precise term is post-sorting, and it cuts down CO2 emissions by 75%

The post-sorting facility located in Brista, near Stockholm (Sweden), counts on a pioneering technology to ensure that more plastic gets recycled rather than incinerated. The name of that technology – near-infrared (NIT), an application tech that has been used more widely in the field of medicine and diagnostics.

The post-sorting plant is the first of its kind in Sweden. It has been operating there since 2021 helping to reduce CO2 emissions from plastic and metal incineration by 75%.

The facility is a collaborative project between Stockholm Exergi (the capital's energy provider) and Sörab and is part-financed by Klimatklivet (Sweden's national green financing scheme).

A total of 11,000 tonnes of plastic and 2,500 tonnes of metal are sorted out there each year. This means that the directives from the EU on recycling are met, offering Stockholm a sustainable solution in terms of prolonging the lifecycle of materials.

The near-infrared sorting technique means that the machine identifies different types of plastic and sorts the ones that can be recycled, such as plastic packaging.

There are in fact two separate steps where NIT is used in the post-sorting process, once to separate organic waste from the rest and then again to separate plastic from metal.

A diagram showing the post-sorting process, Source: Stockholm Exergi