Insight into economies of scale for waste packaging sorting plants

This contribution presents the results of a techno-economic analysis performed for German Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) which sort commingled lightweight packaging waste (consisting of plastics, metals, beverage caitons and other composite packaging). The study addressed the impo1tance of economies of scale and discussed complementary relations occurring between capacity size, technology level and operational practice. Processing costs (capital and operational expenditure) per unit waste input were found to decrease from above 100 € for small plants with a basic technology level to 60-70 € for large plants employing advanced process flows. Typical operational practice, often riddled with inadequate process parameters was compared with planned or designed operation. The former was found to significantly influence plant efficiency and therefore possible revenue streams from the sale of output material streams.