SortingEurope

Linköping

Optical sorting plant at Tekniska Verken

The brief

The municipal company Tekniska Verken AB owns and operates a biogas facility, suppling biogas to public buses and cars in the county of Östergötland, Sweden. The target is to be a fossil free region by 2030. The transformation to fossil free was the main political factor for the Municipality of Linköping to introduce Envac’s optical sorting system to sort out the food waste from the residual waste of the households.

Capacity

48.000 tons/year

Resources

Food and residual waste

Users

325.000

The solution

A reason for choosing Envac’s optical sorting system was that it is a proven technology, can easily be introduced to the entire municipality, and it adds no extra cost for the households. The automated system implies a lower workload for the staff.

The sorting plant in Linköping handles two fractions, residual waste and food waste. It is built adjacent to the district heating plant where the residual fraction is incinerated and converted to heat and energy.

The food waste is transported to a nearby pre-treatment plant, where it is processed to biogas and biofertiliser.

Development

After the sorting system in Linköping was launched, another 12 municipalities have joined and treat their waste at Tekniska Verken, without need for further extension of the plant, which proves that the system is flexible and thus cost efficient.