Everything starts from the trash bin or garbage bag where people put their packaging waste. The ETV show "Impulss" took a tour with a garbage truck.
The garbage tour was made in a wealthy residential area. There, waste was sorted properly. Priit Paulus, the technical manager of Ragn-Sells, explained that in apartment buildings, waste sorting is more careless. There are more people, and some put other things into the packaging.
The garbage collector picks up as much waste as possible on one round so that the truck doesn't make pointless trips. Up to 10 tons of waste can fit into one truck. After the round, the waste is taken to the Suur-Sõjamäe sorting center.
Waste from all over Estonia is brought to the Suur-Sõjamäe center. At first glance, it's just a pile of garbage, but professionals call it waste. Waste is the residue from which something can be sorted out. Garbage is what remains after sorting.
About 1,700 tons of material are sorted per month at the center. Sorting one truckload of garbage takes 2-3 hours. Previously, more people were used, and it took four times longer. Now, machines do most of the work, but people check the final result.
The sorted waste is compressed and taken to the storage area. Plastics are divided into different types, such as polypropylene and polyethylene. The plastic is processed, washed clean, and granulated. It is then sold to manufacturers.
Why do people think that all garbage is mixed together? Eve Nurk, an advisor at Ragn-Sells, explained that trucks have two compartments. One compartment collects one type of waste and the other collects another type. If people don't know this, they think all garbage is mixed together.