Turnkey construction of sorting plant for MSW in Brazil
The new materials recovery facility in Brusque, Santa Catarina, Brazil, engineered and constructed by Sutco, is one of the most advanced and largest mixed municipal solid waste sorting plants in Brazil and is designed to process up to 52 tonnes of waste per hour.
Sutco Brasil and Sutco RecyclingTechnik Germany have successfully completed the design, construction and commissioning of a new materials recovery facility (MRF) in Brusque, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Owned by Ciclare, the new cutting-edge MRF brings together sophisticated sorting technologies to recover valuable resources from mixed municipal solid waste (MSW) and demonstrate the potential of next-generation sorting solutions. Its launch marks an important step toward accelerating the country’s transition to a more circular economy.
ADVANCED SORTING FOR UP TO 93 % RECOVERY
Ciclare envisioned a facility that is engineered to maximise resource recovery. Today, the plant has a processing capacity of 52 tonnes per hour and approximately 225,000 tonnes per year and is set to recover PET, PP, PE, plastic films, ferrous and non-ferrous metals from mixed municipal solid waste streams and cardboard from its bulky waste fraction.
At the heart of the facility is a sorting system featuring five near-infrared (NIR) optical sorters. Designed to accurately identify and separate different material streams, they help achieve a targeted recovery rate of up to 93 % for 3D PET, PP and PE from the waste stream. After sorting, a continuous baling solution compacts the recovered high-quality materials into dense bales, ready to be supplied to domestic markets for downstream processing.
Guilherme Cavalcanti, Sales Representative at Sutco Brasil states: “Brusque marks a new chapter for the circular economy in Brazil. The facility shows what modern sorting technology can achieve: it enables higher recycling performance, improves the quality of recovered materials and puts valuable resources back into the value chain. Recovery rates of up to 93 % for 3D PET, PP and PE highlight the capabilities of the technology and set a new benchmark for modern sorting solutions in the region.”
DELIVERING IMPACT FOR CIRCULARITY IN BRAZIL
The plant introduces a future-focused waste sorting concept that raises the bar for automation, secondary raw material extraction and operational efficiency in Brazil. By combining high-performing sorting technology with sophisticated process automation, the facility is one of the country’s most advanced municipal solid waste sorting plants and will impact the recycling landscape in the country beyond the state of Santa Catarina.
For Sutco, the successful completion and handover of the MRF underline the company’s growing commitment to enhancing circularity in Latin America. It is a testament to the company’s strategic approach of combining world-class technology with local expertise to develop tailor-made solutions for the local market.
By enabling more recyclable resources to be recovered from municipal waste, the facility marks a major leap forward in resource recovery and supports the transition towards a circular economy in Brazil.