How do you sort empty chocolate packaging? St Nicholas explains
Evere, - As the feast of St Nicholas is fast approaching, the little ones (and not so little) are impatiently awaiting their gifts of delicious chocolates and the shiny gold chocolate coins. However, Fost Plus thinks it is important to emphasise during this period that these aluminium packages should be carefully sorted so that they can be recycled. Perhaps into new chocolate packaging?
In recent years, Belgium has made great progress in recycling aluminium packaging. Every year, Fost Plus recycles around 33.000 tonnes of aluminium packaging. They belong to the M of PMD: metal packaging. This also includes steel packaging such as tins. To be recycled, metallic packaging must first be correctly sorted into the blue bag, the best friend of the St Nicholas chocolates packaging. But what happens after that?
The recycling path
In the five Belgian sorting centres, metallic packaging is carefully separated from other metals, but also among themselves. Drums first sort the contents of the blue bag by size. The smallest materials go to a Foucault electric separator that extracts small aluminium, such as packaging for chocolate and drink capsules. This is new since this year. This new flow of small aluminium foil is then sent for recycling.
From the rest of the packaging, steel packaging is sorted in successive steps using a magnet and (large) aluminium packaging with an eddy current separator. In total, the blue bag is sorted into as many as 16 material streams.
Aluminium and steel: precious raw materials
That a new stream was created for small aluminum is of great importance. Aluminium and steel can be recycled infinitely, without any loss of quality. Moreover, the recycling process only requires as much as 85% less energy for steel in proportion to the production of new steel, and up to 95% less energy for recycled aluminium. In this way, the carbon footprint is reduced while natural resources are also conserved.
The magic of recycling
Once recycled, these metals are transformed into large bars, blocks or cylinders that are ready to be used in a multitude of applications. They are omnipresent in our daily life, used to manufacture new cosmetic or food packaging. They may also be found in other items, such as electric appliances. The construction sector and the automobile industry also use a vast quantity of recycled metal.
The reflex to sort
Fost Plus is calling on everyone to give this year's St Nicholas celebrations an environmentally friendly touch by sorting small aluminium packaging into the blue bag. That little bit extra? Make a little ball out of them to enhance their visibility and make it easier for the machines to sort it. St Nicholas will certainly be proud of our commitment to the environment!