State-of-the-art separation mode for municipal solid wastes in Shanghai

The typical municipal solid wastes generated in Shanghai were sorted into three components using screeners with pore sizes of 120 mm, 40 mm and 8 mm, and then classified further for each component. For the components over 120 mm in size, the recyclables are observed to be plastic, compostable organic matters, paper, packaging materials and glass. For the components with 40-120 mm in size, the recyclables include compostable organic matters, plastic, glass, metals, and packaging materials, while the components with 8-40 mm in size mainly comprise of compostable organic matters with little glass, The compostable organic matters predominate in the fractions below 8 mm in size and can be composted directly. The findings thus obtained are used for the design of mechanical separation of municipal solid wastes in Shanghai and some other cities in China.