Waste which has not been sorted at the source is difficult (or even impossible) to recycle. Indeed, recycling is feasible only if material flows are homogeneous. Sort out waste that has been mixed (which is called “over-separation ") is not only technically very difficult, but more expensive as well, and leads to less competitive recycling. Sorting out waste at the source thus allows to improve the quality of the material that is recycled, and to decrease the number of a posteriori interventions of ( over separation ).
It is therefore very important that everyone at home gets involved in waste source separation, so that recyclable or bio waste can be forwarded to the adapted recycling branches.
However, several common preconceptions remain : sorting out waste would be useless, waste would be re-mixed afterwards, etc…It is wrong ! If waste bins containing too many defaults in waste sorting can sometimes be rejected by garbage collection, communities have no interest in sending to incineration waste that could be recycled. For each ton of separated waste, they receive a financial support.
Progress of recycling goes through the extension of what is called "new branches” and “sorting instructions”. In other words, the implementation of specific bins and skips for each type of waste flow. The more waste is collected separately, the easier the treatment in each branch : this is true for glass or paper, but also for waste disposal platforms (wood, metal, batteries, green waste), and in the streets and all public spaces.
