resorter

Resorter is a term used in several contexts, most commonly in waste management, where it describes a process line or facility that re-sorts recyclables after an initial sorting stage. As a noun, it can refer to a person performing this re-sorting or to the equipment or workflow used to carry out the operation. In municipal recycling programs that employ single-stream collection, resorting can improve material purity and overall recovery by extracting contaminants and reclaiming materials that were mis-sorted at the first pass. Resorting facilities are typically part of materials recovery facilities (MRFs) or operate as a dedicated resorting line within an MRF.

Operations typically combine automated technologies with manual labor. Sorting may involve identifying materials by type, removing non-recyclables, and separating items that were missorted. The goal is to increase the resale value of streams such as plastics, paper, aluminum, glass, and other recyclables, and to meet end-market specifications. The effectiveness of resorting depends on upstream sorting quality, contamination levels, equipment capabilities, and labor costs.

There are different forms of resorting: continuous lines within a large facility, mobile resorting units for special projects, and stand-alone plants serving a region. In general, resorting is used where initial sorting leaves significant quantities of valuable materials uncollected or mis-allocated, or where market conditions demand higher material purity.

In other contexts, the word resorter can simply mean someone who resorts to a particular method or place, but the technical meaning in waste management is the re-sorting of recyclables to improve recovery.